@phdthesis{Rolvering2026, author = {Rolvering, Geske}, title = {Empirical Essays in Public Economics}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-20186}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {x, 159 Seiten}, year = {2026}, abstract = {This dissertation exploits quasi-experimental methods and rich microdata to identify causal effects of public interventions that speak directly to the goals outlined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Specifically, the first chapter analyzes the effect of public child care provision on mothers' career trajectories, focusing on the timing of labor market re-entry and the quality of occupational outcomes. It thereby contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals of "Gender Equality", "Reducing Inequalities", and "Decent Work and Economic Growth". The second chapter investigates the impact of all-day school programs on juvenile property, violent, and drug-related crime. By providing evidence on how school schedules can be structured to promote safe learning environments, it contributes in particular to the goal of "Quality Education". In addition, it also contributes to broader objectives related to "Good Health and Well-Being" as well as "Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions". The third chapter examines public attitudes toward climate change and carbon pricing in Germany and analyzes whether different types of information shift people's policy views. By exploring measures to reduce resistance to effective but politically unpopular environmental policies, this chapter contributes to the goal of "Climate Action".}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Hosseini2026, author = {Hosseini, Amir}, title = {Integrated Scheduling and Material Handling: Theory and Applications in Manufacturing Systems}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-20249}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {xv, 127 Seiten}, year = {2026}, abstract = {Scheduling concerns the allocation of limited resources to competing tasks over time and is central to manufacturing systems. In practice, production scheduling is tightly linked to material handling, as jobs must be transported between machines, buffers, and storage locations. However, transportation decisions have often been simplified or decoupled from classical scheduling models. This dissertation investigates the problem of Integrated Scheduling and Material Handling (ISMH), where processing and transportation decisions are jointly optimized to improve overall system performance. The thesis develops this objective in three steps. First, it provides a structured and unified classification of scheduling problems with transportation elements, organizing a fragmented body of literature and clarifying methodological foundations. Second, it studies scheduling in AGV-based material handling systems under battery constraints, proposing a novel mixed-integer programming formulation and an exact solution approach based on logic-based Benders decomposition. Third, it extends integrated models to a buffer-constrained flow shop setting with mobile buffering, introducing a decomposition-based algorithm that significantly improves scalability. Together, these contributions advance conceptual understanding, modeling frameworks, and exact solution methods for integrated production and internal logistics planning in modern manufacturing systems.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Ryzhova2026, author = {Ryzhova, Anna}, title = {The Transnational News Diets of Russian Speakers in Germany: what news they use and trust}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-19867}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {187 Seiten}, year = {2026}, abstract = {The present cumulative dissertation consists of four articles, and is based on more than 70 semi-structured interviews with the Russian speakers in Germany. Forty two interviews were conducted before of the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and the other twenty nine right after its beginning (out of which I used only twenty five for the final analysis, as I focused only on the Russian speakers, associated with agressor or neutral countries in Russia's war in Ukraine). The dissertation addresses a variety of issues, related to the media use of the Russian speakers in Germany, which was previously understudied both in general and from political communication perspective (Panagiotidis, 2023). In the strand of migrants and media research, scholars point the following gaps: the lack of political element in studies of how migrants use media (Leurs and Smets, 2018), the lack of studies how homeland and host society media are used simultaneously, not in isolation from each other, and the lack of studies on the influence of homeland media on migrants as such (Ramasubramanian et al., 2017), and finally, communication scholars not using migration studies frameworks in their research on migrants, which leads to fields existing in parallel (Leurs \& Smets 2018). This dissertation addresses all these gaps. Being the first study to apply the concepts of "news repertoires" and the latest theorization of "news literacy" for studying the migrant populations, as well as looking in-depth in the mechanisms of trust, I analyze the media diets of Russian speakers in Germany in their entirety, considering the contexts and roles, attributed to the German quality, Russian opposition, Russian state sponsored and other types of media, i.e. not analying them in isolation, and also looking at the motivations to use different media for different domains of their lives. Besides, for analysing the transformations of media diets of the Russian speakers in the aftermath of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, I use the concept of "sense of belonging" to Russia to examine the deep, underlying reasons for why news repertoires of these audiences changed, or did not change in the light of Russia's war crimes. As for the contribution to the German-language and Germany-focused literature on the Russian speakers, this is the first comprehensive study to scrutinize the media diets of Russian speakers in-depth with a special emphasis on their motivations, political affiliations and differentiating between the media these audiences "use" and the media they "trust", as previous research on Russian speakers in Germany and their media use was largely focused on integration, largely ignoring the political aspect and Russia's repetitive attempts to influence Russian speakers abroad (e.g.Hepp et al., 2011) or lacked nuance in their results (e.g. Boris Nemtsov Foundation Survey, which posed questions about "Russian media" without defining what it is, i.e. is that opposition media, Kremlin-sponsored media, etc. Finally, this thesis provides a comprehensive case study of audiences from an authoritarian context (or a former authoritarian context, for those, who migrated from Ukraine, but were socialized in the Soviet Union) who migrated to democracy and their media use, and also sheds light on the spectrum of motivations of audiences abroad to continue consuming media from an authoritarian homeland (in our case, Kremlin-sponsored media), which can provide important foundation for future research on other migrant groups from authoritarian contexts in democracies, such as Chinese migrants in Europe. Among the results of the present dissertation is an article on three types of news repertoires that these audiences have, and how political beliefs underpin them; an article on how they view the "truth" in media and why it is a concept of crucial importance for their news trust patterns; an article on news literacy and how migrant audiences need transnational news literacy knowledge in order to navigate complex media landscapes, in which authoritarian states actively try to reach them with their narratives; and finally, how a major crisis event, such as war in Ukraine, changed (or did not change) the news repertoires of the Russian speaking audiences in Germany and why the "sense of belonging" is at the core of these changes.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Kochendoerfer2026, author = {Kochend{\"o}rfer, Laura}, title = {Rethinking systems use in information systems research - theories on individuals' use of multiple information systems}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-20164}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {vi, 99 Seiten}, year = {2026}, abstract = {While individuals use multiple information systems (IS) every day, research on IS use predominantly investigates use with respect to only one information system at a time. In light of this "single-IS paradigm" (Gerlach \& Cenfetelli, 2022), theoretical and empirical insights into the nature and behavioral manifestations of multiple IS use remain limited. To advance the discipline's understanding of the multiple IS use reality, this dissertation theorizes mechanisms that are idiosyncratic to the context of individuals' multiple IS use. Based on grounded theory methodology and interview data from individuals using multiple IS, this dissertation contributes two theories on multiple IS use in two essays. The first essay introduces an analytical theory of eight different interdependencies-in-use as core mechanisms that emerge as users engage with multiple IS. The second essay builds on these interdependencies-in-use and examines how one type of interdependency manifests in behavior. The resulting process theory explains a behavioral phenomenon resulting from multiple IS use: users transferring usage behaviors from one IS to another. This dissertation contributes a theoretical framework for conceptualizing multiple IS use with its underlying mechanisms that enable future research to systematically investigate multiple IS use and related phenomena. It further enriches insights on usage behavior by a multiple IS perspective, indicating that multiple IS use contexts give rise to unique behavioral dynamics. With that, the current conversation in IS use research that focuses on single IS use is extended with new theoretical insights on the use of multiple IS. The dissertation offers additional recommendations for practitioners to consider the interdependent way individuals use multiple IS.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{WallenbornWeiss2026, author = {Wallenborn-Weiß, Benjamin}, title = {Quo vadis Spruchverfahren? - Eine Evaluation der Reform durch das UmRUG sowie des verbleibenden Reformbedarfs des Spruchverfahrensgesetzes}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-20099}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {XIII, 400 Seiten}, year = {2026}, abstract = {Die Arbeit besch{\"a}ftigt sich mit einem Thema an der Schnittstelle zwischen dem Unternehmensrecht und dem Zivilverfahrensrecht, dem Spruchverfahrensgesetz (SpruchG). Hierbei wird der Status Quo de lege lata nach dem Gesetz zur Umsetzung der Umwandlungsrichtlinie und zur {\"A}nderung weiterer Gesetze (UmRUG) dargestellt. Anschließend nimmt der Autor eine Analyse der Ursachen f{\"u}r die lange Verfahrensdauer von Spruchverfahren vor, wobei er die Ergebnisse seiner eigens konzipierten Umfrage einfließen l{\"a}sst. Nach einem Rechtsvergleich nach {\"O}sterreich und die Schweiz werden Reformvorschl{\"a}ge und eigene Konzeptionierungen de lege lata und de lege ferenda diskutiert.}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Min2026, author = {Min, Yufei}, title = {Informationelle Rechtspositionen von Unternehmenstr{\"a}gern in Deutschland und China - unter besonderer Ber{\"u}cksichtigung der registergest{\"u}tzten Informationsversorgung}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-20081}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {XVIII, 255 Seiten}, year = {2026}, abstract = {Im Zeitalter der Digitalisierung und der Leistungssteigerung von Registern zur weiteren Wertsch{\"o}pfung gewinnt die rechtliche Gestaltung der Informationslage {\"u}ber Unternehmenstr{\"a}ger eine wichtige Bedeutung. Die Arbeit konzentriert sich prim{\"a}r auf staatliche Register sowie auf rein private Auskunfteien. Dabei wird die Rechtslage in Bezug auf die informationellen Rechtspositionen von Unternehmen als Registersubjekten in Deutschland und China untersucht. Auf dieser Grundlage wird ein Rechtsvergleich vorgenommen und abschließend ein internationales Registerrecht skizziert.}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Frank2026, author = {Frank, Florian}, title = {Integrating physical unclonable functions from novel nanomaterials, circuit elements, and memory technologies into future hardware architectures}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-20104}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {XVI, 190 Seiten}, year = {2026}, abstract = {Cryptographic keys are fundamental components for ensuring security in digital systems. To ensure reliable key generation and management, various technical concepts have been developed, primarily based on dedicated hardware components such as Trusted Platform Modules (TPMs). However, many modern systems, especially small resource-constrained devices, typically lack hardware support for secure key generation and management. To address these limitations, Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) have proven to be an effective solution for key generation, device authentication, and identification tasks. PUFs leverage inherent variations in hardware components to produce unique, device-specific keys. For a well-designed PUF, these keys can be reproduced reliably on the same device but are practically impossible to clone. Various types of PUFs exist, including those that exploit slight delay differences in circuits with symmetric paths. Others rely on physical characteristics of components already present in the computing system, such as SRAM or DRAM. However, many of these constructions rely on technologies that could be replaced by emerging ones in the future. Such a replacement may involve a transition from traditional memory technologies, such as SRAM, DRAM, and flash memory, to emerging Non-Volatile Memories (NVMs), including Ferroelectric RAM (FRAM), Magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM), and Resistive RAM (ReRAM). These new technologies, in turn, necessitate innovative hardware security solutions for generating intrinsic hardware fingerprints, ensuring security for next-generation embedded devices. Furthermore, the integration of nanomaterials, such as carbon nanotubes, into processor architectures and the adoption of reconfigurable hardware platforms like Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) require the development of specifically tailored cybersecurity solutions. This dissertation aims to develop hardware-based security mechanisms for these types of devices by designing new PUF constructions and demonstrating their practical applications. One focus lies on PUFs extracted from nanomaterials and emerging circuit elements, particularly memristive devices and Carbon NanoTube Field-Effect Transistors (CNT-FETs). For memristive devices, which form the basis of ReRAM memory, this work analyzes methods ranging from simple binary quantization to advanced techniques exploiting device-specific response patterns. In the case of CNT-FETs, custom-fabricated wafers are developed to construct PUFs with optimal properties, such as high robustness, uniformity, and entropy, even under varying environmental conditions. These conditions include fluctuations in ambient temperature. Based on an analysis of fundamental system components, this work evaluates the feasibility of deriving PUFs from fully integrated circuits. A specific focus is placed on emerging non-volatile memory technologies, assessing their potential for PUF applications. To achieve PUF behavior in these memory devices, techniques such as intentional timing manipulation, induced bit flips through row hammering, and variations in supply voltage are examined. These resulting bit flips can be exploited as PUF responses. Additionally, transforming raw PUF responses into cryptographically usable keys and integrating specific PUFs into practical applications are core components of this work. The demonstrated practical applications include an innovative architecture for encrypting and binding data to non-volatile memory modules, implemented on Multiprocessor System-on-Chips (MPSoCs) incorporating FPGAs. This architecture enables the storage of confidential data on non-volatile memory while simultaneously using the same module as a PUF, without requiring separate memory partitions solely for the PUF functionality. Finally, practical applications of hardware fingerprints in the automotive sector are demonstrated, including an FPGA-based implementation to maintain security while preserving the temporal determinism of time-critical messages. These goals are met through the use of hardware-implemented cryptographic algorithms coupled with an FPGA-based ring oscillator PUF. To summarize, this work presents new types of PUF implementations, starting with nanomaterials and emerging circuit elements, extending to PUFs derived from integrated circuits, and demonstrates innovative solutions for their integration into MPSoC-based architectures.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Gruener2026, author = {Gr{\"u}ner, Alina}, title = {Stranger Danger? Three Essays on Consumer Trust and Data Disclosure in Multi-Actor Environments}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-19957}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {XVI, 201 Seiten}, year = {2026}, abstract = {Technological advancements and digitalization in recent decades have led an increasing number of firms to recognize the value of multi-actor business models. Integrating third parties into business processes provides firms with several benefits, including access to additional resources, skills, and information. However, from the consumer's perspective, the involvement of third parties, often unknown to the consumer, is frequently associated with uncertainty, privacy concerns, and, thus, a reluctance to engage with multi-actor business models. Such concerns are not unfounded: In many multi-actor environments, privacy-related misbehavior is common, whether caused by third-party firms, network users, or other actors. Incidents range from unauthorized data sharing to illegal surveillance, identity theft, and financial fraud. Consumers' skepticism poses challenges for firms, requiring strategic measures that not only foster consumer engagement with the network but also help build trust in the presence of third-party involvement and manage the consequences of trust erosion following negative third-party experiences. While privacy research recognizes consumer concerns in multi-actor environments, the literature does not offer specific business strategies to encourage data disclosure in the context of third-party involvement. Instead, research on multi-actor business models has largely focused on the benefits of shared value creation, while the broader impact of negative third-party privacy-related incidents on the overall actor-network remains underexplored. This dissertation addresses this research gap through three independent essays, aiming to identify business strategies that enhance consumer trust and willingness to disclose data in multi-actor environments and counteract the negative effects of (potential) third-party misbehavior on the actor-network. It focuses on preventive measures that address consumers' concerns before interacting with the actor-network, as well as reactive strategies that are designed to maintain consumers' engagement with an actor-network after a negative experience with one of the actors. As a first step toward identifying effective business strategies in multi-actor environments, Essay 1 examines two mechanisms: transparency and control, commonly used to foster consumers' willingness to disclose data. While not explicitly framed as a multi-actor study, Essay 1 investigates how firms' implementation of transparency and control features regarding data practices influences consumers' willingness to disclose data. Two online scenario experiments compare a proactive approach, where consumers receive all relevant information and control options upfront, with an upon-request approach, where they access details by clicking for more information. The results show that the proactive approach increases cognitive effort and reduces data disclosure, while perceptions of procedural fairness do not significantly differ between the approaches. This pattern also holds in high-sensitivity conditions involving third-party data sharing, suggesting that the upon-request approach is effective across both single-actor and multi-actor environments. Building on these findings, Essay 2 analyzes how the representation of actor-networks influences consumers' willingness to disclose data. Drawing on social psychology research on perceived entitativity, three online scenario experiments show that consumers trust firm networks more when they perceive them as highly entitative - as cohesive and integrated entities - rather than as low entitative, meaning a loose collection of independent firms. This greater trust, in turn, enhances their willingness to disclose personal data. Moreover, the analyses reveal that consumers process information about highly entitative firm networks more fluently and experience lower uncertainty than when engaging with low-entitativity networks. This essay also holds substantial practical significance by identifying concrete design recommendations to enhance perceived entitativity. In Essay 3, a platform is conceptualized as a multi-actor environment that enables peer-to-peer interactions. This essay investigates how consumers' negative experiences with other users in multi-actor environments affect trust in the platform as a whole. Two studies were conducted in the home-sharing context, where consumers grant deep access to their privacy by allowing others into their homes or by sharing images of their private living spaces, addresses, and payment details. This openness entails inherent risks when interacting with other users and may facilitate misbehavior. The findings reveal a negative bottom-up trust transfer, whereby a negative experience with another user leads to diminished trust in the misbehaving user and, subsequently, in the platform. Although the platform does not directly control user behavior, consumers attribute part of the responsibility for negative incidents to the platform, which in turn reduces loyalty. This effect is stronger for negative outcome-related incidents, which pertain to the core service itself, than for negative process-related incidents, which relate to the service delivery process. To effectively mitigate this erosion of loyalty, Essay 3 identifies high prior relationship satisfaction between the consumer and the platform as a key buffering mechanism in which firms should actively invest. The insights from my dissertation extend privacy research by examining multi-actor environments and analyzing how firms can encourage consumers to disclose personal data, which psychological mechanisms guide their decision-making, and how trust is established and transferred within the network. Furthermore, this dissertation raises corporate awareness of the risks associated with the involvement of third parties in multi-actor settings. It provides practical strategies to mitigate these risks, fostering consumer acceptance and ensuring the long-term success of such business models.}, subject = {Verbraucherverhalten}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Hackl2026, author = {Hackl, Veronika}, title = {The Literate Human in the Loop: AI Feedback in Higher Education}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-19982}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {iii, 22, 8, 11 Seiten}, year = {2026}, abstract = {This cumulative dissertation, titled "The Literate Human in the Loop: AI Feedback in Higher Education," investigates the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) feedback systems within academic settings and the critical role of user competence.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Wendlinger2026, author = {Wendlinger, Lorenz}, title = {Structure-aware Deep Learning}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-19892}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {XX, 176 Seiten}, year = {2026}, abstract = {Graph structures permeate the digital landscape in explicit and implicit forms. They connect or construct artifacts by combining semantic and structural information. We also observe them in the systems designed to process this data, in their learning algorithms and the very nature of the tasks they solve. At the same time, machine learning methods are extremely data-hungry, requiring petabytes of data for training. Due to their complexity, graphs remain an under-utilized resource in this regard. Many approaches cannot incorporate them due to being fully structurally unaware or not suited to the specific flavour of graphs encountered in some domains. This disconnect is sub-optimal from an effectiveness and efficiency perspective. We present methods that extend the scope of structure-aware deep learning through structural knowledge integration and enrichment, structural performance prediction, and synergistic transfer learning. Knowledge graphs organize information and make it directly available for querying. They provide a structured inference interface for manual and automated inspection, though they can suffer from data quality issues and require careful schema design. We rephrase the reconciliation of knowledge in knowledge graphs as a link prediction task, making it tractable with adapted graph neural networks, while also benefiting conventional link prediction tasks. We further combine textual semantics and structural expression for legal reference prediction via adapted heterogeneous graph neural networks operating on complex meta-information enriched graphs. Additionally, we explore methods for the integration of intermediary expressions in strongly typed heterogeneous graphs, improving prediction via meta-path-based processing. We also develop methods for automated machine learning workflow analysis and performance prediction. This includes the learning of salient representations for management as well as improvement of workflows through automatic suggestion and refinement of components. These are then extended to the prediction of Neural Architecture Search performance prediction, including adaptation to operation-on-edge spaces. Finally, we investigate the transfer capability of pre-trained attention structures for text-based prediction tasks and find it to be both inferior to directly optimized attention masks as well as highly dependent on inherent domain knowledge. We also show that the exploitation of hierarchical task formulation can improve prediction performance through joint learning in diverse learning domains, including link prediction, performance prediction, and specialized and general argumentation mining. The dissertation contains previously published or submitted texts: Wendlinger, L., H{\"u}bscher, G., Ekelhart, A., Granitzer, M. (2022). Reconciliation of Mental Concepts with Graph Neural Networks. In: Strauss, C., Cuzzocrea, A., Kotsis, G., Tjoa, A.M., Khalil, I. (eds): Database and Expert Systems Applications. DEXA 2022. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 13427, p 133-146. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-12426-6_11; Wendlinger, L., Granitzer M. (2024). Informed Heterogeneous Attention Networks for Metapath Based Learning. In: SAC '24: Proceedings of the 39th ACM/SIGAPP Symposium on Applied Computing, p 458-465, ACM, New York. https://doi.org/10.1145/3605098.3635890; Wendlinger, L., Nonn, S.A., Al Zubaer, A., Granitzer, M. (2026). The Missing Link: Joint Legal Citation Prediction Using Heterogeneous Graph Enrichment. In: Wrembel, R., Kotsis, G., Tjoa, A.M., Khalil, I. (eds) Database and Expert Systems Applications. DEXA 2025. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 16047, p 197-211. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-02088-8_14; Wendlinger, L., Stier, J., Granitzer, M. (2021). Evofficient: Reproducing a Cartesian Genetic Programming Method. In: Hu, T., Louren{\c{c}}o, N., Medvet, E. (eds) Genetic Programming. EuroGP 2021. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 12691, p 162-178. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72812-0_11; Wendlinger, L., Berndl, E., Granitzer, M. (2021). Methods for Automatic Machine-Learning Workflow Analysis. In: Dong, Y., Kourtellis, N., Hammer, B., Lozano, J.A. (eds) Machine Learning and Knowledge Discovery in Databases. Applied Data Science Track. ECML PKDD 2021. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 12979, p 52-67. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-86517-7_4; Wendlinger, L., Granitzer, M., Fellicious, C. (2023). Pooling Graph Convolutional Networks for Structural Performance Prediction. In: Nicosia, G., et al. (eds) Machine Learning, Optimization, and Data Science. LOD 2022. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 13811, p 1-16. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25891-6_1; Wendlinger, L., Braun, C., Zubaer, A., Nonn, S., Großkopf, S., Fellicious, C., Granitzer, M.: On the Suitability of pre-trained foundational LLMs for Analysis in German Legal Education, submitted to the proceedings of the International Conference on Machine Learning, Optimization, and Data Science 2025, preprint published: https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2412.15902; Wendlinger, L., Kuhn, R., Mitrovic, J., Granitzer, M. (2025). Joint Learning for Efficient German Argument Mining. In: 2025 IEEE 37th International Conference on Tools with Artificial Intelligence (ICTAI), Athens, Greece, 2025, p 770-777. IEEE, Los Alamitos. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICTAI66417.2025.00111.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Neuwirth2026, author = {Neuwirth, Daniel}, title = {Einbettung und Charakterisierung von aligned bar 1-visibility Graphen und outer fan free Graphen}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-19930}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {VII, 247 Seiten}, year = {2026}, abstract = {In dieser Arbeit werden drei verschiedene Klassen von Graphen untersucht. Die Klassen sind die bar (1;1)-visibilty Graphen, die aligned bar 1-visibility Graphen und die outer fan free Graphen. Die Klassen werden durch ihre m{\"o}glichen Einbettungen charakterisiert. Die Repr{\"a}sentation der bar (1; j)-visibility Graphen ist, dass jeder Knoten als horizontaler Strich und jede Kante als vertikaler Strich gezeichnet wird. Eine Kante kann einen Knoten genau einmal schneiden und ein Knoten kann j-mal geschnitten werden. Wir erweitern die Ergebnisse von Dean et. al. und geben Beispiele mit einer maximalen Dichte an f{\"u}r bar (1; 2)-visibility, bar (1; 3)-visibility und bar (1; 4)-visibility Graphen und geben einen maximal d{\"u}nnen Graphen f{\"u}r die Klasse der bar (1;1) visibility Graphen an. Wir zeigen, dass die Klassen der bar (1; j)-visibility Graphen f{\"u}r 1 < j < 1eine unendliche Hierarchie bilden. Abschließend beweisen wir, dass das Erkennungsproblem ob ein Graph eine bar (1;1)-visibility Repr{\"a}sentation hat, NP-vollst{\"a}ndig ist. Die Klasse der aligned bar 1-visibility Graphen (AB1V ) erh{\"a}lt man, indem man die bar (1;1)-visibility Repr{\"a}sentation um 90 Grad dreht und alle Knoten verl{\"a}ngert, so dass diese alle mit der y-Koordinate 0 starten. Die relative Position bzgl. der x-Koordinate wird mit der t-Ordnung beschrieben und mit der r-Ordnung die relative Position bzgl. der y-Koordinate. Wir erweitern die Erkenntnisse von Felsner und Massow f{\"u}r die Klasse der AB1V Graphen bzgl. ihrer maximalen Dichte, der minimale Grad eines Knotens. Wir f{\"u}hren die Methode Pfadaddition ein, um anhand deren Abschlusseigenschaften zu unterscheiden, ob ein Graph in einer Klasse liegt oder nicht. Diese Methode nutzen wir, um die Beziehung der Klasse der AB1V Graphen mit anderen Klassen zu untersuchen. F{\"u}r die Klasse der maximalen Graphen geben wir einen d{\"u}nnen Graphen und eine untere Schranke bzgl. der Dichte an. Wir geben einen Algorithmus an, welcher eine Bucheinbettung aus einer AB1V Einbettung berechnet. F{\"u}r die Klassen der optimalen AB1V Graphen geben wir einen Einbettungsalgorithmus an. Wir verbessern den Erkennungsalgorithmus von Felsner und Massow, ob ein Graph mit einer gegebenen t-Ordnung eine AB1V Einbettung besitzt. F{\"u}r die Klasse der distinkt strong AB1V Graphen, Graphen in der jeder Knoten ein unterschiedliche r-Ordnung hat und maximal f{\"u}r die r-Ordnung ist, geben wir einen Algorithmus an, der in O(n6) eine m{\"o}gliche Einbettung berechnet. Zum Schluss zeigen wir f{\"u}r diese Klasse, dass es exponentiell viele verschiedene Einbettungen gibt. Ein Graph hat eine outer fan free Einbettung, wenn alle Knoten inzident zu einer Fl{\"a}che sind und keine Kante von zwei Kanten geschnitten wird, die adjazent zu einem Knoten sind. Wir untersuchen diese Klasse zuerst auf die Dichte. Weiter erforschen wir die Beziehung zwischen den Klassen der AB1V , RAC und k-planaren Graphen. Abschließend geben wir eine Reduktion von NAE-3-SAT auf das Erkennungsproblem von outer fan free Graphen an.}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Fischer2025, author = {Fischer, Liliann}, title = {An exploration of professional self concepts in science communication}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-19817}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {iv, 146 Seiten}, year = {2025}, abstract = {The dissertation explores emerging professional self concepts in the field of science communication. It integrates theories and concepts from a diverse range of disciplines from the sociology of professions to science and technology studies. It also considers organisational contexts and country specifics as major influencing factors and includes these in comparative frameworks. By triangulating data from different sources the dissertation offers broad insights not only into science communication but professionalisation more widely.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Schiermeier2025, author = {Schiermeier, Kathrin}, title = {Multidimensional Wavelets and Neural Networks}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-19742}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {xx, 168 Seiten}, year = {2025}, abstract = {The construction of scaling functions and wavelets in multiple dimensions and for arbitrary scaling matrices is a challenging task entailing some complexities. Existing approaches mainly focus on the two-dimensional case using dyadic or quincunx sampling. This thesis aims to develop a method to construct multidimensional scaling and wavelet filters yielding orthogonal scaling functions and wavelets under the usage of convolutional neural networks. We start by recalling substantial fundamentals of ideals, modules, Fourier analysis, filterbanks and multiresolution analyses, where the mentioned concepts are already considered in an arbitrary dimensional setting to prepare the proof of the main result. There, we show the connection between multivariate scaling functions and multidimensional filters possessing certain properties. This enables us to construct scaling functions and corresponding wavelets by discrete filter design. Exploiting the link between the discrete wavelet decomposition, filterbanks and neural networks, we utilize the latter to do so. Being the main difficulty of this process, we especially focus on the Cohen criterion, which concerns the zeros of the Fourier transform of the scaling filter in modulus representing a multivariate trigonometric polynomial. After transferring the Bernstein inequality for univariate trigonomic polynomials to multiple dimensions, we present a method to derive a finite set of inequality constraints implying that the Cohen criterion holds true for a given multivariate cosine sum. Afterwards, we introduce neural networks and TensorFlow as the main tools to execute the described approach, formulate the described objective as an optimization problem and present some smaller numerical experiments and their results. A second objective of this thesis is the construction of filters possessing a unimodular modulation vector and therefore the ability to be completed to a perfect reconstruction filterbank. Both - the construction and the filterbank completion - can also be considered in a neural network framework as we will detail in the last section of this thesis alongside with the presentation of corresponding numerical experiments. In the context of filterbank completion, a further observation which allows to complete any given interpolatory filter to a perfect reconstruction filterbank in a very intuitive and simple way is presented. Furthermore, we explain that any given unimodular filter can be rendered interpolatory through prefiltering.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Henle2025, author = {Henle, Mona}, title = {Multi-Leader Congestion Games with an Adversary}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-19683}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {112 Seiten}, year = {2025}, abstract = {In this thesis, we introduced a congestion game with multiple leaders and a single follower (adversary) which is motivated by security applications with congestion effects. Our objective was to understand the result and the impact of selfish acting individuals in these games. In this regard, we analyzed the existence, the computation and the quality of (approximate) pure Nash equilibria. First, we observed that an exact pure Nash equilibrium always exists in the resulting strategic game among the leaders if the resource cost coefficients are identical and the underlying congestion game is a matroid congestion game. If one of these two conditions is not fulfilled, the existence of PNE is not ensured anymore in general. Consequently, we focused on approximate equilibria. For the case of symmetric singleton strategies, one of our main result established that K ≈ 1.1974, the unique solution of a cubic polynomial equation, is the smallest possible factor such that the existence of a K-approximate equilibrium is guaranteed for all instances of the game. To this end, we presented an efficient algorithm which computes a K-approximate PNE. Furthermore, we showed that the factor K is tight by providing an instance where no α-approximate PNE with α < K exists. However, for a specific symmetric singleton instance there might be a better α-approximate PNE, i.e., with α < K. A given instance could even admit an exact PNE. We provided therefore a polynomial time procedure that computes a best approximate PNE of a given instance. In particular, this procedure can verify the existence of an exact PNE in a given instance efficiently and, if it exists, can also determine the corresponding load vector. Finally, for symmetric singleton instances with two resources, we compared the total cost of a best (cheapest) and worst (most expensive) PNE to the total cost of an optimal outcome, termed by the price of stability and the price of anarchy, respectively. In particular, we verified that the PoS and the PoA are 4/3.}, subject = {Spieltheorie}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Ellinger2025, author = {Ellinger, Simon}, title = {On optimal error rates for strong approximation of stochastic differential equations with irregular drift coefficients}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-19634}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {179 Seiten in verschiedenen Seitenz{\"a}hlungen}, year = {2025}, abstract = {In this dissertation we study strong approximation of stochastic differential equations (SDEs) with irregular drift coefficients at the final time point or globally in time by methods that use only finitely many evaluations of the driving Brownian motion. We show the optimality of well-known methods, such as the Euler-Maruyama scheme or a transformed Milstein scheme, for classes of piecewise Lipschitz continuous, H{\"o}lder continuous and Sobolev regular drift coefficients. To do this, we derive the optimal error rates for the different classes of irregular drift coefficients. Furthermore, we show that the solution of an SDE with piecewise H{\"o}lder continuous drift coefficient has a regular local density, which is used in the proofs of the lower bounds.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Kling2025, author = {Kling, Julia}, title = {Social Networking Sites as Intermediaries of Authoritarian State Propaganda: How Facebook and VK Disseminated Predominantly Kremlin-Friendly Political Content Before and During Russia's Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-19601}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {48 Seiten, 160 verschieden gez{\"a}hlte Seiten}, year = {2025}, abstract = {Previous research on Russia's use of social networking sites to influence foreign audiences has primarily focused on US-based platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook, the activities of Russia's "troll farms", as well as Russia's foreign broadcasters, RT and Sputnik, and their audiences. By contrast, little research has examined the global reach of Russia's state-aligned domestic news content, specifically on US- and Russia-based social networking sites that significantly differ in the level of the Kremlin's control over information flows, and how the activities of novel Russian disinformation production organizations support this reach. In my dissertation, I addressed these gaps in the extant research literature in the fields of political communication, social media, and Russia studies in four distinct research papers focusing on the reach of and engagement with Russian-speaking political content, including Russia's domestic news content, and the activities of ANO Dialog, Russia's novel disinformation production organization with close links to the Russian government, on US-based Facebook and Russia-based VK. To do so, I used innovative qualitative, quantitative, and computational research methods to create knowledge on Russia's informational influence on the two platforms before and after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The findings highlight that, despite differing levels of Kremlin control, both of the social networking sites studied functioned as conduits for the dissemination of Russian-speaking, predominantly Kremlin-friendly political content, including state-aligned domestic news. This content reached audiences both within Russia and abroad in the lead-up to and during the full-scale war in Ukraine. While VK primarily served Russia's users, Facebook disseminated Russia's state-aligned news mostly to audiences outside Russia, particularly in former Soviet countries, in the lead-up to the invasion. During the war, Facebook continued to host critical perspectives on Russia's war crimes, in contrast to VK, where such content was blocked. However, Facebook was banned in Russia in March 2022, limiting domestic access to dissenting views. With the war ongoing as of May 2025 and organizations such as ANO Dialog intensifying their efforts to influence both domestic and foreign audiences on platforms such as VK and Facebook, it is likely that Russia will further strengthen its information control.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Prummer2025, author = {Prummer, Michael}, title = {Asset Tokenization and Authentication in the Industrial Metaverse}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-19566}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {xviii, 196 Seiten}, year = {2025}, abstract = {The Industrial Revolution is a crucial development step in human history that started three centuries ago and is still ongoing. It continually influences and shapes the globalized world. Today, industries account for 20\% of carbon dioxide emissions worldwide and require more than a third of global energy consumption. Current problems, such as climate change, increasing waste, and pollution, require simultaneous optimization across all industrial domains, infrastructure, and systems as they depend on each other. The global industry faces the immense challenges of providing for a surging world population expected to peak in the mid-2080s with 10.4 billion people, as reported by the United Nations. Hence, industries are expected to become less resource-intensive, sustainable, and more resilient to disrupted supply chains while producing for a growing population for the next decades. The Fourth Industrial Revolution, or Industry 4.0 (I4.0), started around 2010 and is still an ongoing transformation of industrial processes towards digitalization, creating smart factories referring to the digital data integration of the entire manufacturing cycle. I4.0 is incredibly information-intensive and requires immense data to simulate and predict essential operations based on a digital shadow of the factory, a so-called digital twin. The Metaverse is considered a digitalization megatrend merging digital and physical worlds, creating immersive experiences and new opportunities for interaction and innovation across various sectors and industries. The vision of the Metaverse promotes interconnected and interoperable real-time 3D virtual worlds that can be frictionlessly traversed while sustaining ownership of one's assets under a self-sovereign identity in a decentralized environment without platform lock-ins to a specific ecosystem. Therefore, the Metaverse creates an immersive parallel reality with collective virtually shared spaces for entertainment, social interactions, education, and a new working environment. The Industrial Metaverse synthesizes Metaverse concepts with current industrial automation, such as I4.0, to deepen the digital-physical convergence by interconnecting internal and external systems to enable decision-making and predictions based on significantly broader knowledge. An Industrial Metaverse factory is entirely mirrored to integrate digital twins of all types of equipment, assets, and other entities that can communicate vertically and horizontally, as well as the knowledge about relevant external systems and industrial core sectors. Through the comprehensive data integration of the Industrial Metaverse, AI-driven applications can predict future events, reducing system and hardware failures. Furthermore, the interconnected virtual environments create a meta-ecosystem for global collaboration, providing spaces for solving complex problems such as engineering and product design tasks, simulation of product twins, and reduced development time and costs. The connected industrial ecosystems create a token-based digital economy for exchanging data, assets, and services cross-metaverse connecting isolated data silos. Sharing digital twin resources and services with other systems enables new innovative applications and growing ecosystems. The theoretical part of this thesis defines the essential characteristics and key technologies of the Industrial Metaverse to derive a reference architecture for a decentralized system of systems, outlining the fundamental Industrial Metaverse building blocks. Interoperable data exchange, access management, and system communication are critical challenges. Especially interoperability of assets such as 3D files that come in different formats and identities must be ensured to move between virtual environments. The unique fusion of technologies leverages interconnected digital twins in the context of immersion, interaction, and collaboration for secure, autonomous-governed, decentralized industrial applications. Hence, the Industrial Metaverse requires the possibility of exchanging assets, products, and services across all systems in a secure manner. Distributed ledger technology enables tamper-proof transactions of assets and value in a decentralized token economy. Therefore, we investigate the feasibility of current tokenization methods for industrial assets, in particular, Printed Circuit Board (PCB) designs and 3D models. We contribute methods to create unique fingerprints of PCB designs to enable their exchange in the token economy. We investigate how to bind files in different formats and quality representations to the same token. A robust multi-file binding based on the copper layers of a PCB design was achieved by calculating an adaptive perceptual hash of all files. The adaptive perceptual hash was evaluated against numerous tamperings of the routing layout of a PCB, showing decent resistance to layout changes. The resulting adaptive perceptual hash can be used as an additional identification attribute in a tokenized asset. Furthermore, assets must be authenticatable and verifiable by marketplaces, manufacturers, and other participants to create trust in a decentralized environment. While assets can be tampered with to manipulate, for example, cryptographic hashes that link the file to the token, perceptual hashes can compute a perceived or functional similarity of two objects instead of the plain file integrity. Without the possibility of verifying and protecting intellectual property, mass adoption of the Metaverse and Industrial Metaverse is unlikely. Therefore, we contribute to detecting tampering attacks on 3D models by introducing a 3D perceptual hash that is robust to a set of mesh manipulations, enabling the trusted exchange and authentication of 3D data in the Metaverse.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Danner2025, author = {Danner, Julian}, title = {SAT Solving Using XOR-OR-AND Normal Forms and Cryptographic Fault Attacks}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-19171}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {vi, 237 Seiten}, year = {2025}, abstract = {The Boolean satisfiability problem (SAT) lies at the core of computational logic and has found many applications in verification, cryptography, and artificial intelligence. While conflict-driven SAT solvers (CDCL) excel on large industrial instances, they struggle with XOR-rich instances arising frequently in cryptanalysis, due to the inefficiency of CNF encodings of linear constraints. Conversely, algebraic approaches can work with linear XOR constraints naturally but fail to scale to relevant sizes. Bridging these complementary paradigms with a focus on cryptographic problems is at the heart of this thesis. On one hand, this dissertation advances SAT solving by introducing the XOR-OR-AND normal form (XNF) as a generalization of the conjunctive normal form (CNF), where literals are replaced by XOR chains of literals. This allows for a native representation of XOR constraints. We generalize the CDCL architecture to the richer language of XNFs. The underlying reasoning based on the proof system SRES which is shown to be exponentially stronger than classical resolution. An implementation demonstrates competitive performance and often surpasses state-of-the-art algebraic and logic solvers on random and cryptographic benchmarks. Furthermore, we prove that every XNF formula can be converted in polynomial time to a formula in 2-XNF, enabling a graph-based approach similar to 2-SAT. Building on this, we propose advanced in- and pre-processing techniques, and construct a simple DPLL-based solving framework. Our implementation, 2-Xornado, outperforms modern algebraic and logic solving approaches on many random and some structured cryptographic problems. On the other hand, we apply combined algebraic and logical techniques to cryptanalysis of stream ciphers. We introduce a formal guess-and-determine (GD) framework using a logical abstraction of the information flow in the internal state. From an algebraic point of view, we can then find optimal GD attacks utilizing a Gr{\"o}bner basis. As a case study, we apply this method to aid in the construction of novel fault attacks on the ciphers KCipher-2 and Enocoro-128v2. Using ad hoc methods combining algebraic and logical approaches, we show that both ciphers are vulnerable to active side-channel attacks under rather weak fault models.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Hagen2025, author = {Hagen, Pamina}, title = {The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games as a City and Nation Branding Tool: An Interdisciplinary Analysis of the Image of International Opinion Leaders}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-19052}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {339 Seiten}, year = {2025}, abstract = {This dissertation examines the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games as a tool of city and nation branding, analyzing their role within China's broader soft power strategy and their impact on international perceptions of Beijing and China. Drawing from urban geography, political geography, international relations, and marketing theory, the study explores how mega-events contribute to the construction of national identity and global image. Using a mixed-methods approach, the research combines qualitative interviews with 16 international diplomats in Beijing and an online survey of 40 foreign journalists who lived and worked in China during the Olympiad. The analysis focuses on two dimensions of image: the city of Beijing and the nation of China. The findings indicate that the 2008 Summer Olympic Games did not fundamentally alter China's international image. While the event successfully projected an image of modernization, efficiency, and confidence, pre-existing concerns about political control and human rights persisted. For Beijing, the Olympics enhanced its visibility as a global city but also highlighted tensions between its traditional identity and its modern aspirations. The media's framing played a decisive role in shaping these perceptions. Overall, the study concludes that the Beijing Olympics functioned as a significant yet limited instrument of soft power. They reinforced China's global presence and urban development goals but fell short of transforming its international reputation. The research contributes to understanding how mega-events operate as strategic tools of geopolitical communication and branding in the context of globalization.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Pirwitz2024, author = {Pirwitz, Anne}, title = {Migrationsfilme als ‚kritische Heimatfilme'?}, publisher = {Akademische Verlagsgemeinschaft M{\"u}nchen}, address = {M{\"u}nchen}, doi = {10.23780/9783960916338}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:101:1-2409191636377.506847991255}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {330 Seiten}, year = {2024}, abstract = {Seit dem Zusammenbruch des Kommunismus ist die Anzahl im Ausland arbeitender Rum{\"a}n*innen stark angestiegen. Inzwischen leben fast 20 \% der Bev{\"o}lkerung jenseits der Landesgrenzen. Transnationale Familien­strukturen mit in Rum{\"a}nien zur{\"u}ckgelassenen Kindern oder Eltern und pluri-lokale Lebensweisen der Migrant*innen sind in k{\"u}rzester Zeit zu einem allt{\"a}glichen Ph{\"a}nomen der rum{\"a}nischen Gesellschaft geworden. Die Auswirkungen dieser Migration sind von gesamtgesellschaftlicher Relevanz und finden daher immer wieder Eingang in Literatur, Musik und Film. Diese Medien werden dabei von realen Ereignissen inspiriert, greifen aktuelle Diskurse auf und konstruieren eigene fiktionale Wirklichkeiten. Dabei vermitteln sie bestimmte Weltbilder und bieten verschiedene Sichtweisen auf die von ihnen verhandelten Themen an. Zwischen dem Ende der kommunistischen Diktatur 1989 und 2022 entstanden 52 rum{\"a}nische fiktionale Kurz- und Spielfilme, die explizit Migration ins Zentrum ihrer erz{\"a}hlten Geschichten stellen. Der vorliegende Band untersucht, auf welche Weise die rum{\"a}nische Arbeitsmigration im postkommunistischen Film verarbeitet wird, welches Bild der rum{\"a}nischen Heimat und des ‚Westens' vermittelt wird, wie diese R{\"a}ume durch filmische Mittel {\"a}sthetisch konstruiert werden und ob es sich bei diesen Werken um eine neue Form des ‚kritischen Heimatfilms' handelt.}, subject = {Rum{\"a}nien}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Fellicious2025, author = {Fellicious, Christofer}, title = {Bridging the gap: Applying machine learning techniques in digital forensics}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-18473}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {112 Seiten}, year = {2025}, abstract = {With the increasing adoption of virtualization technologies across various industries, virtual machines (VMs) offer cost-effective solutions for obtaining computing power without the burden of initial investment or ongoing maintenance. However, the widespread use of VMs also increases the risk of malicious actors attempting to gain unauthorized access due to the possibility of accessing the VMs via standard internet protocols. Virtual Machine Introspection (VMI) and Forensic Memory Analysis (FMA) are two key cybersecurity methods for addressing these threats. While FMA leverages digital forensic techniques to extract and analyse information from system memory to explain security incidents, VMI typically works with live systems, analysing running processes to detect real-time threats. Both approaches face a significant challenge known as the "semantic gap," which arises from the need to infer high-level system information from low-level data such as physical memory and CPU registers. This dissertation explores using machine learning to bridge the semantic gap in FMA and VMI applications. The research uses OpenSSH process heap dumps as a use-case to extract high-level structures, such as OpenSSH encryption keys, from raw process memory dumps. The study employs various techniques to isolate relevant memory sections, from basic memory chunking and entropy analysis to more advanced methods utilizing pointers and malloc headers. During this research study, we also identified the need for a foundation model in memory forensics. Foundation models are general purpose models trained on large amounts of data and users can later use these models to perform different tasks by finetuning the model. This research also addresses the challenge of detecting malware by analysing system-level API calls and employing custom feature engineering techniques. Given that the threat landscape is constantly evolving, we also investigate concept drift — a phenomenon where input data distribution changes affect predictive models' performance. To mitigate the degradation in performance due to concept drift, we introduce a concept drift detection algorithm complemented by a custom sampling method that optimizes training data selection. This approach reduces the training dataset size by one-third, enhancing the efficiency of model training while maintaining high performance.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Zerhoudi2025, author = {Zerhoudi, Saber}, title = {User Simulation in Interactive Information Retrieval : methods and frameworks for simulating complex search behavior}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-18936}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {xii, 196 Seiten}, year = {2025}, abstract = {Modern information retrieval (IR) systems, including web search engines and digital libraries, face challenges in simulating realistic user search behavior. Evolving interaction patterns and the integration of AI-powered interfaces make these challenges even harder. Traditional evaluation methods struggle to capture the dynamic nature of user interactions, particularly in complex search tasks and multi-stage information-seeking processes. User simulation offers a promising solution, providing a controlled environment for experimentation and allowing customization to model specific user behaviors and task contexts. This research develops advanced techniques for user simulation in IR, creating more realistic and dynamic models than were previously possible. Key contributions include new methods for representing query reformulation, modeling how information needs change, and measuring the impact of different search environments on simulated user behavior. Specifically, this work introduces contextual Markov models, cognitive state models, and embedding space alignment techniques to accurately represent interactive search behavior. Beyond model development, new evaluation methods and metrics are proposed for assessing the quality of simulated search sessions. These include statistical comparisons of session characteristics and classification-based approaches to distinguish between simulated and real user behavior. Additionally, this work leverages emerging technologies, such as large language models (LLMs) and retrieval-augmented generation, to improve the realism of user search behavior simulation. The practical outcome of this research is a modular and extensible simulation framework. This framework incorporates advanced techniques like user type-specific Markov models, advanced query generation using LLMs, and conversational user models.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Klement2025, author = {Klement, Felix}, title = {Strengthening Security Foundations in Next-G Wireless Telecommunication Systems}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-18669}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {XV, 161 Seiten}, year = {2025}, abstract = {Digital transformation fundamentally impacts our everyday lives and creates significant efficiency gains in the economy. At the same time, however, it is also increasing the complexity of wireless networks, particularly in the case of the sixth generation (6G) mobile communications standard. The use of different technologies in these networks poses an increasing challenge and increases the risk of security threats and vulnerabilities. Wireless communication networks are particularly vulnerable to cyber attacks as they are an integral part of critical infrastructures. Robust methods must, therefore, be developed to overcome these challenges. Consequently, this dissertation is focused on the security fundamentals of next-generation (Next-G) wireless telecommunication systems. It addresses the security challenges resulting from emerging and innovative concepts within these systems. We use case studies for in-depth investigation and analysis, with a particular focus on the Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) approach. The aim of this concept is to enable open and interoperable network architectures, in contrast to traditional RAN systems, which are often proprietary and manufacturer-specific. In this respect, it is essential to address fundamental questions, like the efficient assessment of the threat landscape, the impact of potential attacks, and the mechanisms that can be used to ensure security at the system level. Initially, an empirical approach is developed to analyze threats within telecommunications systems, such as the O-RAN. The procedure we have developed enables automated, programmatically executable vulnerability management. This methodology is further enhanced by integrating Natural Language Processing (NLP), leading to the creation of a fully automated, iteratively executable framework for security analysis within O-RANs. The framework allows for the direct incorporation of our methods into the deployment process, facilitating rapid and efficient comparison of all components against the latest security vulnerabilities. The current approach of fully deploying all components in virtualized environments, such as cloud infrastructures, introduces new and unprecedented security challenges. In response, we investigate current deployment strategies within the O-RAN infrastructure and establish best practices to mitigate these security issues. In the course of the dissertation, we identify security vulnerabilities in wireless telecommunication systems by executing different attack scenarios. We present a detailed procedure for carrying out the attacks as well as effective methodologies for detecting or avoiding the vulnerabilities we have identified. In the first study, we analyze the security of a key component, the Near-Real-Time RAN Intelligent Controller (Near-RT RIC), within O-RAN. We show how a subscription Denial of Service (DoS) attack can render current implementations of this component unusable. In the second analysis, we investigate the robustness of new standards in wireless networks against jamming attacks using the open-source connectivity standard Matter. The final section of this dissertation explores innovative security research approaches for enhancing the system security of future communication systems. Initially, a novel concept is introduced that facilitates the comprehensive and efficient management and assurance of security within O-RAN systems through the use of Security Platforms (SPs). Furthermore, two developed methodologies for this approach are presented: firstly, a method for programmatically analyzing eXtended Applications (xApps) to identify vulnerabilities, and secondly, an approach for conducting comparative assessments of these vulnerabilities. Additionally, a strategy is proposed to ensure that only secure xApps, such as those that have been pre-tested, are deployed for use in Near-RT RIC. Overall, this dissertation makes an important contribution to the research of security principles for next-generation wireless telecommunication systems. With the help of our approaches for a better and more concrete assessment of threats in such networks, we directly contribute to a clearer and better manageable picture of the vulnerability landscape. Our two publications on vulnerability research also provide valuable insights for securing future problems in the respective areas. In summary, with our approaches to system security, with which security principles can be implemented and integrated into modern system approaches such as O-RAN, we contribute to ensuring a secure transition to 6G.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Lehner2025, author = {Lehner, Constanze}, title = {Three Essays on the Interpretability of Random Forests: Methods, Insights, and Innovations}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-18608}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {126 Seiten}, year = {2025}, abstract = {This thesis examines the interpretability of random forests in three essays, focusing on the discussion of established methods, the presentation of new insights and the provision of innovations. The research aims to bridge the gap between traditional statistical methods and random forests, a data-driven machine learning algorithm, by investigating the ability of random forests to adequately model theoretical concepts compared to parametric methods and developing a new approach for statistical hypothesis testing. The results have implications for various areas of research in which interpretability is crucial for applications. The next three paragraphs summarize the studies presented in this thesis. The ability of random forests to automatically model interactions without the need for pre-specification is mentioned prominently in many articles and book chapters. Promising empirical results from early work on random forests have substantiated this property, which has led to an increasing popularity of using random forests in the presence of interactions as an alternative to traditional parametric methods. This study reviews the literature of the last 20 years on random forests and interactions. We explore the discussion from its origin in the decision tree literature to early applications of random forests and current research. We identify key research areas and illustrate random forest applications to highlight similarities and differences between disciplines. We also provide a critical examination of the arguments in favor of random forests being able to model interactions automatically. Since the term ``interaction'' is associated with different theoretical concepts, we explain and illustrate the definition of interaction for each research area. The variable importance of random forests is an easy-to-understand metric that intends to make the predictions of random forests more transparent by assessing the contribution of each covariate to the prediction of the response. However, due to its data-driven nature, the variable importance of random forests may over- or underestimate the importance of a covariate, so that the role of the covariate in the underlying data generating process is not correctly reflected. We present an example of underestimation of importance in the case of interacting covariates. We define an interaction in terms of effect modification, which assumes that the effect of one covariate on the response is modified by values of another covariate. We show that the variable importance of random forests is influenced by the interaction form and the measurement scale of the interacting covariates, so that in some cases the importance of one or even both interacting covariates is underestimated. We illustrate how the split decisions of random forests affect the variable importance values of the interacting covariates. Variable importance estimates the contribution of a covariate to the performance of a predictive algorithm. Defined as the increase in loss after the random permutation of a covariate, permutation variable importance makes it possible to rank the covariates by importance, but in the absence of a threshold, the distinction between important and unimportant covariates is inherently arbitrary. We show that recent approaches of non-parametric permutation tests for variable importance exceed their nominal type I error level for mutually dependent covariates. As an alternative we propose a combined variable importance estimate on a sequence of permutations and employ a computationally more efficient bootstrap to derive the respective null distribution and \$p\$-values. The proposed test can be applied to any predictive algorithm and is remarkably fast. We investigate the control of type I error level and the power of the proposed variable importance test in simulation studies. Even for mutually dependent covariates, our test is conservative and provides power comparable to recent advances in non-parametric permutation tests of variable importance. This study was conducted in collaboration with Matthias Wild.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Dietrich2025, author = {Dietrich, Philip}, title = {Moralische Entscheidung in virtuellen Handlungswelten. Verantwortliche Vermittlung gesellschaftlich relevanter Themen im Videospiel}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-18481}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {86 Seiten}, year = {2025}, abstract = {Die vorliegende Arbeit untersucht die verantwortliche Vermittlung gesellschaftlich relevanter Themen im Medium des digitalen Spiels. Als generationen{\"u}bergreifendes und interaktives Medium er{\"o}ffnen digitale Spiele durch die Verkn{\"u}pfung von Narration und Interaktion die M{\"o}glichkeit, alternative Perspektiven einzunehmen und neue Rollen zu erproben. Auf Basis von vier Teilstudien wird der Frage nachgegangen, wie gesellschaftlich bedeutsame Inhalte in digitalen Spielen verantwortungsvoll gestaltet und vermittelt werden k{\"o}nnen. Die erste Teilstudie identifiziert zentrale Nutzungsmotive und weist Spielende als potenzielle moralische Handlungstr{\"a}ger (Moral Agents) aus. Sie zeigt auf, dass moralische Dilemmata, die innerhalb virtueller Spielwelten erfahren werden, Relevanz f{\"u}r moralische Urteilsbildungsprozesse in der realen Welt entfalten k{\"o}nnen. Die zweite Teilstudie kn{\"u}pft an diese Erkenntnisse an und untersucht anhand von Expert:inneninterviews das Potenzial digitaler Spiele f{\"u}r eine digitale Erinnerungskultur. Die dritte Teilstudie entwickelt ein Modell f{\"u}r die gelingende Vermittlung gesellschaftlich relevanter Themen im digitalen Spiel. Hierbei wird insbesondere die integrative Funktion von Narration und Interaktion als zentrales Gestaltungsprinzip herausgestellt. Die vierte Teilstudie erweitert dieses Modell um die Dimension der {\"A}sthetik, die als konstitutives Element der Wirklichkeitswahrnehmung und Sinnkonstitution innerhalb virtueller Spielr{\"a}ume fungiert. Die Ergebnisse verdeutlichen, dass f{\"u}r eine verantwortungsvolle Vermittlung gesellschaftlich relevanter Inhalte im digitalen Spiel eine digitale Moral Agency erforderlich ist. Diese bef{\"a}higt Spielende dazu, moralisch zu handeln und das eigene Handeln kritisch zu reflektieren. Die Verbindung von Narration und Interaktion erweist sich dabei als zentrales Mittel zur Initiierung von Perspektivwechseln, zur {\"U}bernahme fremder Rollen und zur F{\"o}rderung reflexiver Prozesse. {\"A}sthetisierungsprozesse innerhalb der Spielwelten tragen wesentlich dazu bei, diese kognitiven und affektiven Auseinandersetzungen anzustoßen und zu vertiefen.}, subject = {Spielwissenschaft}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Rutter2025, author = {Rutter, Eva}, title = {Berufswahlmotivation Lehramt: Ein weltweit {\"a}hnliches Ph{\"a}nomen? Eine international vergleichende Studie}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-18464}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {xi, 268 Seiten}, year = {2025}, abstract = {Im Angesicht eines weltweiten Lehrkr{\"a}ftemangels (OECD, 2018b; UNESCO, 2023) wird in der empirischen Forschung der Berufswahlmotivation Lehramtsstudierender ein großer Stellenwert beigemessen (Butler, 2017). Es handelt sich beim Lehrkr{\"a}ftemangel aktuell um ein weltweites Ph{\"a}nomen, das weder nur Deutschland oder nur westliche L{\"a}nder betrifft (UNESCO, 2023). In den letzten zwanzig Jahren haben sich einige theoretische Modelle zur Berufswahlmotivation spezifisch f{\"u}r das Lehramt etabliert, dazu z{\"a}hlen das FIT-Choice-Projekt (Richardson und Watt, 2007), Femola (Retelsdorf und M{\"o}ller, 2012) und STeaM (Weiß und Kiel, 2013). In dieser Arbeit wird das FIT-Choice-Modell (Richardson und Watt, 2007) verwendet, um die Berufswahlmotive eines internationalen Samples Lehramtsstudierender zu zwei Zeitpunkten zu betrachten. Das Modell stellt mit seinen Bezugstheorien (Eccles und Wigfield, 2002; Ryan und Deci, 2000) sowohl die theoretische als auch die empirische Fundierung dieser Arbeit dar. Neben diesem werden Professionalisierungstheorien (vor allem der kompetenztheoretische Ansatz nach Baumert und Kunter, 2011a) und die Habitustheorie (Bourdieu, 1982) zur Interpretation der Ergebnisse herangezogen. Strukturmerkmale der einzelnen L{\"a}nder erm{\"o}glichen ein kultursensitives Vorgehen. Zu zwei Zeitpunkten (Studienbeginn und Studienende) wurden an 5 Universit{\"a}ten in Deutschland, {\"O}sterreich, der Schweiz, S{\"u}dafrika und Israel mit einem Skalenfragebogen insgesamt n= 1157 Studierende (Studienbeginn n= 835, Studienende n= 322) zu ihren Berufswahlmotiven und Einstellungen befragt. Diese wurden in Zusammenhang gebracht mit der L{\"a}nderzugeh{\"o}rigkeit, ihrer sozialen Herkunft sowie ihren p{\"a}dagogischen Vorerfahrungen. Zudem wurden im deutschen Sample zum Ende des Studiums offene Fragen erg{\"a}nzt, um Begr{\"u}ndungslinien f{\"u}r die Berufswahl in Erfahrung zu bringen. Mit dem spezifischen Sample wurde das Desiderat der L{\"a}ndererweiterung um nicht- westliche L{\"a}nder (Watt, Richardson und Smith, 2017) bearbeitet, ebenso mit den offenen Fragen das Desiderat nach der Verbindung von quantitativen und qualitativen Ans{\"a}tzen (Watt und Richardson, 2015). Mit der Arbeit k{\"o}nnen die Hauptergebnisse der Forschung mit den FIT-Choice-Skalen best{\"a}tigt werden. Die Betrachtung von Subgruppen innerhalb der L{\"a}nder gab einen Einblick zu Berufswahlmotiven marginalisierter Gruppen und den Grenzen von global anzuwen-denden (westlichen) Erhebungsinstrumenten. Die Arbeit leistet außerdem einen Beitrag zum Diskurs um den Einfluss von p{\"a}dagogischen Vorerfahrungen in der Berufswahlmotivationsforschung, zudem werden Erg{\"a}nzungen f{\"u}r den FIT-Choice-Fragebogen f{\"u}r die „Gen Z" vorgeschlagen.}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Poliakoff2025, author = {Poliakoff, Serge}, title = {From Faking Online Content to Orchestrating Its Creation by Public Workers: Examining Russian Disinformation Production Organisations through Curriculum Vitae Analysis (2013-2024)}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-16100}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {259 Seiten}, year = {2025}, abstract = {This dissertation examines the evolution of Russian digital authoritarianism, focusing on its organisations that produce disinformation, the transition from the Internet Research Agency to the Patriot Media Group and the emergence of ANO Dialog. It shows how the Internet Research Agency operated as a sophisticated "troll farm" during the early stages of the Russo-Ukrainian war, with activities similar to those of a PR firm. The Patriot Media Group absorbed these activities, blurring the lines between media and disinformation and prioritising metrics-driven propaganda over journalistic professionalism. This dissertation identifies the organisation ANO Dialog as a new model, heavily integrated with state structures, combining digital surveillance, repression, and Soviet-style agitation adapted to the digital age. Using a novel methodology of career profile collection and analysis, my research illustrates the institutionalisation and regional expansion of disinformation tactics in Russian digital authoritarianism, highlighting its operational adaptability and evolving infrastructure.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Springer2025, author = {Springer, Simone Maria}, title = {Lehramtsstudierende auf ihrem Weg der Professionalisierung}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-16120}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {420 Seiten}, year = {2025}, abstract = {Die vorliegende Studie untersucht subjektive Vorstellungen von Professionalisierung aus Sicht Studierender des Lehramts Grundschule an der Universit{\"a}t Passau im Rahmen unterschiedlicher Praktikumsformen: P{\"a}dagogisch-didaktisches Praktikum (PDP), Exercitium Paedagogicum (ExPaed) und Modellcurriculum (MC). Aus der Theorie heraus wurden zwei Hauptkategorien der Studie abgeleitet: Kategorie I - Inwiefern unterscheiden sich die subjektiven Sichtweisen Studierender unterschiedlicher Praktika (PDP, ExPead, MC) auf Professionalisierung? Und Kategorie II - Inwiefern unterscheidet sich die systematische Reflexion der individuellen Professionalisierung von Studierenden unterschiedlicher Praktika (PDP, ExPaed, MC)? Durch diese drei Gruppierungen ist es m{\"o}glich, verschiedene Perspektiven zu ber{\"u}cksichtigen und Unterschiede herauszuarbeiten. Die leitfaden-gest{\"u}tzten ExpertInneninterviews (n = 27: 8 PDP, 10 ExPaed, 9 MC) wurden mit dem Programm f4 transkribiert und mit Hilfe der Datenanalyse-Software MAXQDA (2020/2022) inhaltsanalytisch nach Mayring (2015) ausgewertet. Ergebnisse der Studie zeigen Abweichungen der einzelnen Studierendengruppen bez{\"u}glich biografischer Ausgangslagen f{\"u}r Professionalisierung. StudentInnen der einzelnen Gruppierungen nehmen Professionalisierung im systemisch-strukturellen Rahmen in Form von Praktika anders war, zeigen Unterschiede im professionellen Selbstverst{\"a}ndnis und in den subjektiven Einflussfaktoren f{\"u}r Professionalisierung. Auch in der systematischen Reflexion der eigenen Professionalisierung k{\"o}nnen Diskrepanzen eruiert werden.}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Sawhney2025, author = {Sawhney, Udit}, title = {Incentivizing Sustainable Agriculture in Indonesia: Empirical Essays on the Role of Social Norms and Information Provision}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-16095}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {xvi, 157 Seiten}, year = {2025}, abstract = {The Green Revolution (GR) was one of the most transformative events in modern agricultural history. It was characterized by the widespread adoption of high-yield crop varieties, synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, and advanced irrigation systems. By significantly increasing agricultural productivity, the GR responded to global food shortages and hence played a crucial role in educing hunger, particularly in developing economies. However, while the GR alleviated food insecurity and stimulated economic development, it also brought about several unintended consequences like environmental degradation, as well as, widening socio-economic inequalities. Farmers, particularly in South and Southeast Asia, indulged heavily in fertilizer overapplication, which led to declining soil health and long-term sustainability concerns. Recognizing these challenges, the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) placed significant emphasis on sustainable agriculture, particularly through SDG - 2, which seeks to end hunger and promote sustainable food production. In line with these efforts, there has been a growing movement by several countries and international organizations towards promoting sustainable agricultural practices that balances agricultural productivity with environmental conservation. This dissertation contributes to this discourse on sustainable agriculture by examining key socio-economic factors that influence the adoption of sustainable farming practices among smallholder farmers in Indonesia. Indonesia's agricultural landscape, particularly its rice farming sector, has been shaped by decades of Green Revolution policies, with Java serving as a focal point for agricultural intensification. While these policies led to impressive yield increases and national self-sufficiency in rice production by the mid-1980s, they also resulted in several environmental and economic challenges, including excessive use of chemical fertilizers, soil nutrient imbalances, and long-term land degradation. In response, the Indonesian government introduced several sustainability-focused policies, including Integrated Pest Management (IPM), Farmer Field Schools (FFS), and the "Go Organic 2010" initiative. Despite these efforts, adoption of sustainable farming practices remains limited, raising critical questions about the barriers that prevent smallholder farmers from transitioning away from intensive chemical input use. The dissertation focuses on three interrelated research questions that explore the role of social networks, information provision, and economic incentives in shaping farmers' decisions regarding sustainable agriculture. These questions are addressed through a combination of mixed-methods research and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) conducted in Java, specifically in the regions of Yogyakarta and Tasikmalaya. The first research question investigates whether and how social networks and peer effects influence farmers' input decisions, particularly regarding fertilizer application. This study builds on existing literature on social networks in agriculture and examines the extent to which perceptions of farming norms - the visible greenness levels of rice plants - affect farmers' willingness to adopt more sustainable practices. Using a mixed-methods approach, including survey experiments and social network analysis, the study finds that personal opinions about the importance of plant greenness significantly influence farmers' input decisions. However, second-order perceptions - farmers' beliefs about how others in their farming network think about their farming choices - do not play a decisive role in shaping actual adoption behaviour. This finding contrasts with previous studies that emphasize the role of social pressure in agricultural decision-making, suggesting that while social learning plays an important role, it does not always operate through peer-effect mechanisms. The results highlight the complexity of social influences in agricultural adoption decisions and the need for more nuanced approaches to integrating behavioural insights into policy interventions. The second research question investigates the role of information provision, particularly about site-specific nutrition, in promoting sustainable soil management practices among smallholder farmers. A large-scale RCT was conducted in 69 villages to assess whether targeted agricultural extension trainings, along with soil testing services, can drive farmers' adoption of sustainable soil management practices. Villages were randomly assigned to - a treatment group (T1) that received one-day training on soil health management, a second treatment group that received both training and soil tests (T2), and a control group. The study reveals that while training sessions increased awareness and adoption of simple sustainable practices - such as the use of the Leaf Colour Chart (LCC) - there was limited impact on broader behavioural changes, such as the adoption of organic fertilizers or precision fertilizer application. However, the additional provision of soil testing led to measurable reductions in nitrogen fertilizer use while simultaneously increasing yields, demonstrating the potential for personalized, site-specific soil nutrient recommendations to improve both economic and environmental outcomes. A cost-benefit analysis reveals that additional day of soil testing training resulted in an average economic gain of USD 15.71 per farmer and also reduced CO2 emissions by approximately 2 kg per farmer. These findings highlight the potential for scalable, information-based interventions as well as the need for sustained follow-up support to reinforce behavioural changes among farmers. The third research question explores farmers' willingness to pay (WTP) for soil testing services and compares two different market-dissemination models - a private service model (where farmers purchase individual soil tests) and a collective (club good) model (where farmer groups collectively purchase a soil testing kit). Using an incentive-compatible auction based on the Becker- eGroot-Marschak (BDM) method, the study finds that farmers are willing to pay approximately 43\% of the actual cost of soil tests, indicating strong demand for personalized soil fertility information. Furthermore, there is no significant difference in WTP between the private and club good models, suggesting minimal free-riding behaviour within farmer groups. The qualitative data further suggests that group-based models foster a sense of joint responsibility and knowledge-sharing, making them a viable alternative to individual service provision. A deeper analysis reveals that while private service models are more effective in low-subsidy environments, club good models become preferable when subsidies are higher, offering valuable insights into cost-sharing mechanisms for agricultural policy design. Taken together, the findings of this dissertation have important implications for policymakers seeking to promote sustainable agricultural practices in developing economies. First, the dissertation highlights the nuanced role of social networks in shaping farmers' adoption decisions, suggesting that interventions targeting social learning should account for the complexity of social networks and peer influence mechanisms. Second, the dissertation underscores the importance of integrating soil testing and personalized information into agricultural extension programs, as site-specific soil nutrient recommendations can enhance both farming productivity as well as environmental sustainability. Third, the study provides empirical evidence on cost-effective ways to scale up soil testing services, demonstrating that well- esigned market-dissemination strategies can increase farmers' access to sustainability-enhancing technologies while maintaining financial viability. Beyond its immediate policy relevance, this dissertation also contributes to broader theoretical debates in development economics, agricultural economics, and environmental sustainability. By integrating experimental research methods, the dissertation advances understanding of how farmers make technology adoption decisions under conditions of uncertainty and social influence. Additionally, the study provides a methodological contribution by demonstrating the effectiveness of combining RCTs with qualitative approaches to capture the complexities of real-world decision-making. Despite its contributions, the dissertation also identifies several avenues for future research. One key limitation is that the analysis focuses primarily on short - to medium-term impacts, leaving open questions about the long-term sustainability of behaviour change. Future studies should explore whether farmers continue to adopt sustainable practices once external support is removed. Additionally, further research is needed to examine the role of digital agricultural advisory services, mobile-based soil testing platforms, and remote sensing technologies in complementing traditional extension services. Finally, more work is needed to explore the broader policy ecosystem surrounding agricultural sustainability, including the role of subsidies, market linkages, and certification schemes in incentivizing long-term adoption. In conclusion, this dissertation provides a comprehensive analysis of the social, informational, and economic factors that drive sustainable agricultural transitions in Indonesia. By offering evidence-based insights into the design of more effective extension programs, market dissemination strategies, and cost- haring mechanisms, it contributes to ongoing efforts to create more resilient and environmentally sustainable food systems. The findings are not only relevant for Indonesia but also offer valuable lessons for other developing economies that are facing the challenge of balancing agricultural productivity with sustainability.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Patil2025, author = {Patil, Amit Dilip}, title = {Towards Resilient Protection of Interconnected ICT and Power Systems}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-16088}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {xxii, 173 Seiten}, year = {2025}, abstract = {Due to the increasing number of distributed renewable energy sources, the distribution grid faces new operational challenges. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) systems can resolve these challenges through grid services that use automation, monitoring, and real-time decision-making, helping maintain an acceptable operational state of the distribution grid. However, the reliance of the power system on the ICT system and vice versa in the so-called smart grid creates interdependencies between the systems, which present new pathways for failure propagation. Therefore, these interdependencies require special attention to ensure stable system operation in the face of these challenges. However, these interdependencies have not been studied extensively in the literature. This thesis investigates approaches to model, quantify and improve the performance and resilience of the smart grid infrastructure. The interdependencies are formalised as interconnectors, entities that exist in all the connected systems. These interconnectors consist of components from both systems, where the components are modelled as state variables. These state variables determine the interconnector state and the service delivered. Failures represented by a change in state variables may impact the state. These state variables are deployed in a discrete event simulation framework to determine the system performance over time. The simulation result is represented on a two-dimensional state-space diagram depicting the operational state and service delivered. This allows for the resilience analysis of a system under various scenarios. The interdependencies are further investigated by exploring the role of ICT-based grid services in power grids, whose state is defined based on ICT properties, such as latency. These properties are formalised using property graphs. The ICT properties obtained from these graphs are used to parameterise a finite state automaton model of a grid service states, which are then used to determine the state of the entire smart grid. Case studies of state estimation and adaptive protection highlight the application of this approach. The use of ICT in state estimation allows the distinction of a global and perceived view of the power grid, which influences decision-making in the face of challenges. This thesis further investigates the protection system in detail. The overcurrent protection system is adversely impacted by distributed generation, resulting in undesired phenomena such as protection blinding. This thesis characterises this phenomenon by proposing two indices that capture the protection trip time under the influence of distributed generation. These indices consider the electrical distance between faults, protection and distributed generation. These indices and simulation results identify the worst-impacted locations in the power grid in terms of protection trip time. They also identify fault locations under given assumptions that do not cause protection blinding. ICT can resolve protection blinding by adapting the sensitivity of protection relays. However, since faults must be cleared in a short timeframe, communication delays may adversely impact the fault-clearing time. A discrete event simulation model is proposed to study protection performance in distribution grids. Investigation of time distribution assumptions reveals that the lognormal distribution accurately captures the circuit breaker trip time. The impact of the distributed generation and communication delay on the protection system is determined by measuring fault-clearing times using discrete event simulation. Results show that for the system studied, protection blinding is critical for low impedance faults in grids with high fault levels, while high impedance faults are critical in grids with low fault levels. Moreover, sympathetic tripping is seen at increased distribution grid fault levels and fault impedance. Furthermore, while communication systems reduce fault clearing times, increased delays harm protection systems. Finally, communication system components like sensors can fail, preventing fault detection. This thesis proposes a genetic algorithm-based approach to optimally place redundant sensors, minimising protection blinding under communication uncertainty within a redundancy budget. Results demonstrate the algorithm's effectiveness in optimising redundant sensor locations, reducing system costs, and improving fault tolerance. For the system and scenarios investigated, an average of 60\% redundant sensors are relocated, reducing the average protection trip time by 36.65\% compared to a baseline approach that does not consider communication uncertainty. This encourages incorporating communication component failure considerations in power system planning.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Luick2025, author = {Luick, Karen}, title = {Reisebegegnungen in Marokko}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-16024}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {v, 371 Seiten}, year = {2025}, abstract = {Die Arbeit beleuchtet Marokko als Reiseziel f{\"u}r Individualreisende aus landeskundlicher und tourismusgeographischer Perspektive. Darauf aufbauend erfolgt eine Analyse der touristischen Praxis anhand von Begegnungsrepr{\"a}sentationen in verschiedenen medialen Formaten von Reiseberichten, mit Fokus auf interkulturelle Begegnungen. Diese zeigen sich in ihrer Darstellung als vielf{\"a}ltig und differenziert. Durch eine multiperspektivische Betrachtung des Ph{\"a}nomens werden komplexe Spielarten interkultureller Begegnung in Bezug auf Darstellung, Pragmatik und Funktionalit{\"a}t herausgearbeitet.}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Julka2025, author = {Julka, Sahib}, title = {Towards Data Efficiency and Controllable Representations for Deep Learning in Resource-Constrained Domains}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-16030}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {20 ungez{\"a}hlte Seiten, 131 Seiten, 17 ungez{\"a}hlte Seiten}, year = {2025}, abstract = {The deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) in specialised domains such as planetary science and healthcare, as well as in low-resource NLP settings, faces two fundamental challenges: label scarcity and data scarcity. Label scarcity stems from the high cost of expert annotation, the scarcity of domain experts, and the infeasibility of crowdsourcing, particularly in complex tasks requiring specialised knowledge. In parallel, data scarcity stems from the inherent difficulty of acquiring sufficient raw data, whether due to limited observational opportunities, environmental and technical barriers, or stringent privacy constraints. Together, these limitations impede the broader adoption of AI in these fields. Many existing approaches to label efficiency, such as active learning, rely on problem-specific heuristics and often, as a design choice, employ naive uncertainty estimations—typically at the instance level. However, such methods can lead to redundant or suboptimal sample selection by ignoring structural data properties and failing to account for representational diversity. In practice, they often perform no better than random sampling. For data synthesis, generative models face their own set of challenges. Despite their promise for synthetic data generation, these models frequently lack mechanisms to disentangle generative factors at the representation level, limiting their controllability. Additionally, standardised evaluation metrics to assess the quality of disentanglement remain underdeveloped, limiting their practical utility. These limitations highlight the need for advancements in data-efficient machine learning and controllable generative modelling, focusing on domain-specific validity and rigorous evaluation. This thesis contributes to addressing these challenges by proposing tailored solutions in two key directions. First, for data-efficient learning, a deep active learning (DAL) framework is introduced to enhance label efficiency by prioritising the most informative samples for annotation. Unlike traditional per-sample approaches, this framework aggregates uncertainty across larger data segments—such as orbital intervals in planetary science—allowing it to capture contextual variations. This method reduces labelled data requirements by up to 90\% in the case of boundary crossing detection at Mercury's magnetosphere. To further improve sampling diversity, a GAN-based concept drift detection method is integrated into the DAL framework, leveraging uncertainty and diversity together to offer a sampling method that outperforms random sampling. Additionally, foundation models such as the Segment Anything Model (SAM) are employed for zero-shot annotation to generate high-quality pseudo-labels, which are subsequently used to train a domain-specific model via knowledge distillation. This approach significantly enhances data efficiency, reducing the need for annotated samples several times over in the tested scenario of image segmentation for geological mapping. Furthermore, large language models (LLMs) are explored as active annotators for linguistic tasks in low-resource languages, achieving near-baseline performance while reducing annotation costs by up to 40x. Second, the thesis investigates methods to induce controllability in generative models, enabling the production of high-fidelity, controllable synthetic data. Conditional generative adversarial networks (CGANs) and disentangled representation learning techniques (DRL) are explored, particularly in the context of pedestrian trajectory prediction in the mobility domain, where controlled synthesis of diverse motion patterns is critical. Additionally, the work examines existing metrics for evaluating disentanglement and identifies critical limitations in them. A novel metric, the Exclusivity Disentanglement Index (EDI), is proposed as an improved standardised measure. Based on the principle of exclusivity in factor-code relationships, this metric offers advantages over existing alternatives in terms of efficiency and robustness. By advancing data-efficient learning and controllable generation strategies, this thesis aims to bridge the gap between AI's vast potential and its practical adoption in resource-constrained environments. These contributions pave the way for transformative applications in planetary science, healthcare, and beyond, where label and data scarcity have long been barriers to progress.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Baak2025, author = {Baak, Werner}, title = {Advanced Ordered Weighted Averaging Methods in Robust Optimization}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-15879}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {viii, 88 Seiten}, year = {2025}, abstract = {In decision-making under uncertainty, robust optimization is a critical tool across various fields, providing solutions that perform effectively across a range of scenarios where precise probabilities are unavailable or unreliable. Traditional approaches, such as min-max and min-max regret, focus on minimizing the worst-case outcomes and worst-case regret, respectively, often resulting in highly conservative solutions. To address this limitation, this dissertation investigates the Ordered Weighted Averaging (OWA) operator, which offers a flexible framework for aggregating outcomes according to varying risk preferences, from risk-averse to risk-neutral, encompassing traditional robust approaches as special cases. This work is organized around three primary contributions that expand the application and understanding of OWA in robust optimization. The first contribution develops a preference elicitation framework for OWA weights, enabling decision-makers to derive weighting schemes based on observed historical decisions, thereby aligning aggregation strategies with specific risk attitudes. The second contribution introduces a novel variant of OWA for robust optimization, integrating OWA into a regret minimization framework to generalize both robust min-max and min-max regret approaches. This model is complemented by new complexity results, including insights into the inapproximability and approximability of OWA regret, providing stronger approximation bounds that asymptotically improve on previously established results for classic OWA models. These advancements position the OWA regret model as a powerful alternative to min-max regret, offering a more adaptable approach to risk-sensitive decision-making. The third contribution addresses interval uncertainty, extending the OWA framework to scenarios where outcomes are represented as bounded intervals instead of discrete points. This interval-based OWA model accommodates real-world decision-making needs, where scenario data are uncertain or costly to specify. By using Value-at-Risk (VaR) in our definition, we provide a natural way to handle continuous ranges of uncertainty while maintaining computational tractability for large-scale problems. Together, these contributions advance both the theoretical and practical applications of OWA in decision making, establishing OWA-based methods as versatile tools for addressing complex uncertainties across a variety of decision-making environments.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Wilhelm2025, author = {Wilhelm, Sebastian}, title = {Emergency Detection in Private Households Utilizing Existing Data Sources for Human Activity Event Recognition}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-15992}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {xvii, 156 Seiten}, year = {2025}, abstract = {In an aging society, the need for efficient emergency detection systems in smart homes is becoming increasingly important. Over 30\% of those aged 65 and older experience at least one fall per year, often resulting in the inability to rise without assistance, leading to 'long lies' lasting hours or even days. Systems for detecting such emergency events usually rely on wearable sensors or specific installations of ambient sensors, which can be intrusive and complex, hindering acceptance. This thesis proposes a novel approach that utilizes existing digital data sources within the residential infrastructure to detect human activities and identify potential emergencies. A survey identifies 44 potential data sources in private households for recognizing human activity. However, extracting activity information often requires complex preprocessing. In this thesis, methodologies are developed for three of these data sources to highlight practical applications: Smart Power Meters, Smart Water Meters, and Home Weather Stations. It is shown that detecting human activities using these sources is feasible in a practical environment, although accuracy and reliability vary. Notably, Smart Water Meters demonstrate high reliability, with a precision of 0.86 and a recall of 1.00, making them particularly suitable for emergency detection. Existing emergency detection methods are not designed to handle uncertain activity data. This thesis introduces a novel approach based on probabilistic activity information, employing an Inactivity Score that provides a probabilistic weighting of inactivity periods based on the reliability of sensor measurements. By analyzing historical Inactivity Scores, anomalies that potentially represent an emergency can be identified. Evaluations across seven datasets show this approach outperforms existing methods, achieving a mean time to detect emergencies of approximately 05:23:28 hours and producing 0.09 false positives per day under noise-free conditions. Moreover, unlike related approaches, the proposed method remains effective with noisy data. This thesis demonstrates that emergencies in private households can be detected using existing data sources from the home infrastructure, offering a cost-effective and non-intrusive solution to enhance the safety and autonomy of the elderly at home.}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Stoffels2025, author = {Stoffels, Dominik}, title = {Advancing Pattern Detection, Theory Development and Decision Making with Explainable AI}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-15975}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {ii, 145 Seiten}, year = {2025}, abstract = {The application of explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) methods in data-driven decision-making and computationally intensive theory development (CTD) is a subject of ongoing debate, particularly concerning how and whether these methods can be effectively employed, and how the reliability of their explanations can be ensured. This dissertation addresses these issues by systematically analyzing the usability of XAI for pattern detection, CTD, and decision-making, drawing on various real-world and synthetic datasets and employing different empirical methods and perspectives. The dissertation consists of four studies, each addressing distinct issues in the field of XAI application.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{KravetsMeinke2025, author = {Kravets-Meinke, Daria}, title = {Search Engines and Foreign Influence: How Google and Yandex Mediate Russia's Propaganda Abroad}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-15953}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {146 Seiten}, year = {2025}, abstract = {This cumulative dissertation examined how the US-based Google and Russia-based Yandex mediate the propaganda efforts of Russia's ruling elites abroad on a case study of Belarus. The findings presented here contribute to a nuanced understanding of how algorithmic gatekeepers, particularly search engines, can be strategically appropriated or manipulated to reinforce and export state narratives beyond national borders. The main conclusion of this dissertation is that both Yandex and Google, albeit through different mechanisms and to varying extents, can serve as mediators of Russia's propaganda efforts abroad.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Hasenpflug2025, author = {Hasenpflug, Mareike}, title = {Slice sampling on Riemannian manifolds}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-15903}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {iii, 118 Seiten}, year = {2025}, abstract = {This thesis is concerned with hybrid slice samplers for approximate sampling of distributions on Riemannian manifolds. First for distributions on the Euclidean unit sphere, and then for distributions on general Riemannian manifolds we introduce a geodesic-based hybrid slice sampler, called geodesic slice sampler. Under mild regularity assumptions, we establish reversibility with respect to the target distribution for this sampler and positive semi-definiteness of the corresponding operator. Moreover, on compact Riemannian manifolds we show uniform ergodicity with explicit constants for the geodesic slice sampler if the target distribution has a bounded density with respect to the Riemannian measure. As an important building block of this sampler, we provide an explicit expression for the shrinkage procedure proposed in (Neal, 2003) in terms of a Markov kernel. We establish that this kernel is reversible with respect to the uniform distribution on the target set and that its corresponding operator is positive semi-definite. Beyond the geodesic slice sampler, we apply these results also to elliptical slice sampling (Murray, Adams, MacKay, 2010) to obtain a proof for its reversibility with respect to the target distribution and positive semi-definiteness of the corresponding operator.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Prakash2025, author = {Prakash, Jyoti}, title = {Static Analyses of Interlanguage Interoperations}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-15736}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {ix, 126 Seiten}, year = {2025}, abstract = {Software Developers are moving towards a multilingual development where they combine two languages in a single application to harness the strengths of each language. For example, performance-critical components of a Java application can be implemented in C language. It provides flexibility, at the same time, it becomes difficult to statically analyze these applications. The amalgamation of two languages in a single application may introduce bugs ranging from type-mismatch to security vulnerabilities. Therefore, it is necessary to develop static analysis techniques to aid developers in multilingual development. In this thesis, we develop techniques to study and analyze these applications. In the first part of the thesis, we study the prevalence of security and privacy vulnerabilities in hybrid apps. Hybrid apps are Android apps that combine both Java and Javascript components, where the Android part is secured (on the device), while the JavaScript part is exposed to web. Additionally, some of the Java functions are available to JavaScript component through an interface called as bridge interface. In the pursuit of the goal, we adopt a static backtracking of data dependencies to determine the flow of information from the android component to the web component. Our study revealed the potential sources of unsoundness in the existing static analyses. Static backtracing also induces imprecision in the analysis, i.e., there might be some flows that are not possible during runtime albeit are reported by the analysis. These were mitigated through a manual verification. This work reveals that the android-web hybridization can lead to (potential) vulnerabilities that might impact the confidentiality as well as the integrity properties of these apps. From the communication patterns occurring in Android WebView, we noticed that its is feasible for an attacker to jeopardize the integrity of apps by corrupting some value, say an input on the web through bridge interfaces. Motivated by this, we define a information flow analysis of the bridge interfaces and the associated data flows in hybrid apps. In the first step, we propose a novel threat model where we model the attacker as someone who wants to influence the behavior of android app as an integrity violation. Based on this threat model, we then propose a demand-driven analysis technique to detect confidentiality and integrity violations. Our analysis leverages, a demand-driven technique, where it only analyzes the relevant part of app for the information flow analysis with the help of function summaries --- escaping the need of a whole-program analysis. In the second part of the thesis, we generalize the approach to static analysis of multilingual applications. To this end, we investigate into the question of combining existing single language analyses to analyze multilingual programs. To provide an affirmative answer, we define an analysis to leverage single language analyses for call-graph and pointer analysis of multilingual programs. Our analysis takes two existing unilingual analyses and analyzes the complete multilingual program. It uses a novel summary specialization technique that resolves the information flows at the bridge interfaces by utilizing independent pre-analyses (modulo foreign function interfaces) of each language component. We apply this technique to analyze Android-NDK and GraalVM Java-Python multilingual applications for generating call-graphs. In summary, we have developed novel techniques for information flow and call-graph analysis for multilingual programs. With this, we motivate the need of static analyses for multilingual applications and its applications which includes, vulnerability detection, program understanding, amongst others.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Still2025, author = {Still, Enid}, title = {Affective Roots: Memory, emotions and viscerality within organic agri-food networks in Tamil Nadu, India}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-15838}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {272 Seiten}, year = {2025}, abstract = {For activists I met in Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu in India, organic food and farming was a 'way of life'. Stemming from my curiosity about this statement and what it meant for different actors in the regional organic agri-food networks, this research explores the interconnected lives and livelihoods of organic farmers and activists in Tamil Nadu. To engage with the social dynamics of these agri-food networks, the research focuses in on the role of the affective, feeling body. The emphasis on affect emerged in the form of memories, emotions and visceral experience, from empirical data collected between 2020 and 2022. And as the thesis demonstrates, affective dimensions, or what moves people, are important because, unlike economic, statistical or structural perspectives, they make visible the ways different actors feel socio-ecological change. Adopting the lens of Feminist Political Ecology and drawing on the fields of historical anthropology and feminist ethics, this thesis highlights: (1) the enduring nature of epistemic injustice within agri-food relations, (2) how social boundaries are built, maintained and remade through affective encounters, circumscribing what I call the 'affective roots' of socio-ecological change and (3) how ambiguous affective relations co-constitute organic agri-food networks, shaping anxious environmental subjectivities, that stem from socially mediated encounters with agro-chemicals, the market, the landscape and the other. Deepening our understanding of socio-ecological and agrarian change through empirical inquiry into how people feel matters, I argue, because it sheds light on injustices that are often concealed beneath the clouds of crisis.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Jakob2025, author = {Jakob, Dietmar Friedrich}, title = {Teilhabegerechtigkeit bei der digitalen Inklusion {\"a}lterer Erwachsener: Eine Potenzialanalyse von Sprachassistenten}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-15849}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {xiii, 224 Seiten}, year = {2025}, abstract = {This cumulative dissertation delves into the complexities and opportunities surrounding older adults' adoption and use of Voice Assistants (VAs), focusing on digital participation equity from theologic-ethical and social perspectives. Through an extensive series of methodologically diverse studies—including systematic literature reviews, laboratory experiments, surveys, and field studies—the research aims to uncover how older adults perceive, interact with, and are impacted by technologies, such as the particular model "Amazon Echo Show 10, 3rd generation with integrated voice interface ALEXA". The investigation also seeks to pinpoint the obstacles that impede the adoption of these technologies among this demographic. The research initially demonstrates that older adults can recognize the utility of VAs in various applications, including information retrieval, entertainment, and health management. The findings underscore the importance of these devices in enhancing the quality of life by providing easier access to essential services and facilitating social interaction, even among those who may be physically isolated. However, the dissertation identifies significant concerns among older adults regarding privacy and data security, influencing their willingness to embrace VAs. The devices' complexity and occasional interaction difficulties—such as command formulation and speech recognition issues—further challenge their usability for this group. A notable and unique aspect of the study is the anthropomorphization of devices by some older adults. This behavior, where users attribute human-like characteristics or emotional connections to VAs, suggests deeper psychological and social dimensions in the user-technology relationship. This phenomenon is examined to understand its implications for technology acceptance and the potential for these devices to mitigate feelings of loneliness and social isolation. In summary, this dissertation provides practical recommendations for enhancing the design, communication, and functionality of VAs to better cater to the needs and preferences of older adults. It underscores the importance of technology development that respects the dignity and autonomy of older individuals, ensuring their digital participation and equity. The work advocates for a comprehensive approach that integrates ethical considerations into technology design and dissemination, thereby promoting a framework that supports the full inclusion of older adults in the digital world.}, language = {mul} } @phdthesis{Weishaeupl2025, author = {Weish{\"a}upl, Andreas}, title = {Zur Bedeutung der maximalen Laktatbildungsrate in Diagnostik und Training am Beispiel Skilanglauf und Radsport}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-15801}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {XVII, 257 Seiten}, year = {2025}, abstract = {Die Arbeit beleuchtet die Bedeutung der maximalen Laktatbildungsrate (V̇Lamax) f{\"u}r die Leistungsdiagnostik und die Trainingspraxis. F{\"u}r die Sportart Skilanglauf wurde ein neuer Sprinttest zur Bestimmung der V̇Lamax am Skiergometer entwickelt, der sich als reliabel und valide erwiesen hat. Dabei wurden verschiedene Ans{\"a}tze zur Bestimmung der alaktaziden Zeit genauer betrachtet. Außerdem wurde der Sprinttest am Skiergometer mit dem etablierten Sprinttest am Radergometer verglichen, wobei festgestellt werden konnte, dass die V̇Lamax sportart- und extremit{\"a}tsspezifisch getestet werden sollte. Zudem wurde die Auswirkung von Intervalltraining unterschiedlicher Intensit{\"a}t im Radsport untersucht. Hochintensives Ausdauertraining scheint dabei die V̇Lamax zu steigern, wohingegen submaximales Sweetspot-Training die V̇Lamax zu senken scheint.}, subject = {Leistungsdiagnostik}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Hering2025, author = {Hering, Robin}, title = {Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict: Safe Areas and the Silencing of Mass Atrocities}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-15765}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {200 Seiten}, year = {2025}, abstract = {This publication-based thesis approaches the topic of the protection of civilians in armed conflict by 'zooming in' on two specific sub-topics: safe areas as well as the silencing of mass atrocities. The thesis consists of five publications (four of them published in double-blind peer reviewed journals) and of an introductory chapter that presents the overall argument and contextualises the publications. Two publications argue that mass atrocities are silenced, or at least not politicised, in the discourses and debates of Germany as an exemplary UN member state. It is argued that 'silencing' is a structural feature of an 'identity-mismatch' with the domestic ideational structure that inhibits debates and freezes the possibility space for foreign policy. Empirically, the first publication assesses the rhetoric of the German chancellor, foreign ministers and parliamentary group leaders vis-{\`a}-vis the mass atrocities committed in Yemen, Myanmar and South Sudan. The second publication widens the scope and looks at German political, media and societal debates in twelve cases of mass atrocities between 1992 and 2019. The remaining three publications focus on the topic of safe areas. The first publication systematically collects and assesses the existing conceptual literature on safe areas. The second publication presents a comprehensive definition, a four-fold typology based on a distinction by size and the logic of protection as well as an extensive empirical dataset of safe areas. By analysing case studies from Iraq and South Sudan, the third publication argues that safe areas have a very limited potential to provide an alternative to flight, especially from the perspective of the protection-seeking civilians themselves.}, subject = {Zivilbev{\"o}lkerung}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Soller2025, author = {Soller, Sebastian}, title = {Anomaly Detection and Forecasting Techniques and their Applications Scenarios, Challenges and Limits in Industrial Production Settings}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-15659}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {vi, 136 Seiten}, year = {2025}, abstract = {What needs to be done to get machine learning and artificial intelligence from the lab to the shop floor? This work and its affiliated publications focus on challenges and solutions to apply machine learning applications inside industrial setups and what steps are needed to improve those setups. In industrial setups it is easy to run into a "hen and egg" problem. To gather data, the information which data to gather is ideally given beforehand and these information are not available when studying new setups and machines. In this work setups and concepts are created to dynamically connect to a network and start gathering data from available endpoints inside a manufacturing setup. The data streams of these endpoints are further analyzed to give an initial analysis of the data and advise further processing. To further analyze these data streams with the current advances in the machine learning field and AI, plug and play solutions are presented by manufacturers and scientific research. Limits are determined for this plug and play capability and solutions are provided to further improve upon the base solutions. The capability to apply commonly applied methods was analyzed and initially provided non-sufficient results. In the sub-fields of anomaly detection, regression analysis, forecasting and classification the addition of context information, such as production specific information and time dependent analysis were used to improve the results. Context information, especially periodic information, were further conceptualized and integrated into the initial data analysis. Difficulties with correct labeling of ground truth due to differing biases of participants were encountered, and counter measurements were proposed. Results of the classification, regression, forecast and context information extraction were investigated for their influence on the human operator. A significant change could be measured in multiple cases, just by providing information about underlying problems and errors. The Aforementioned machine learning methods further improved the performance of machine and operator.}, subject = {Anomalieerkennung}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Fruehwirth2025, author = {Fr{\"u}hwirth, Lorenz}, title = {The Asymptotic Behavior of Birkhoff- and Lacunary Sums}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-15677}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {109 Seiten}, year = {2025}, abstract = {This doctoral thesis consists of three independently published research articles on the asymptoic behaviour of Lacunary- and Birkhoff sums. The former are sums formed by periodic functions and exponentially growing sequences of natural numbers. The corresponding summands often exhibit behavior typical of independent and identically distributed random variables. The methods used are of an analytical and probabilistic nature. The Birkhoff sums considered in this work are generated by the Kronecker sequence and by discontinuous functions. The methods employed are from the field of metric number theory, specifically classical results from continued fraction theory are utilized.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Lorenz2025, author = {Lorenz, Catherine}, title = {Studies on optimization problems with dynamically arriving information}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-15649}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {xv, 184 Seiten}, year = {2025}, abstract = {In today's fast-paced world, transportation planning, e-commerce, smart manufacturing, emergency services, and financial markets operate in real-time environments where dynamically arriving information must be integrated on-the-fly into decision-making. Research produced online algorithms ranging from myopic reoptimization (Reopt) to learning-based anticipation methods. However, given the complexity of real-world problems, optimal decision policies remain unknown, and effectiveness is often assessed through simulations against simple benchmarks, leaving improvement potential and robustness uncertain. This dissertation proposes effective online policies using classical and innovative analytical and computational evaluation methods, establishing performance bounds and comparisons to optimal solutions. It designs algorithmic frameworks for two dynamic optimization problems: the Online Order Batching, Sequencing, and picker Routing Problem (OOBSRP) in warehousing and the Traveling Salesman Problem with a Truck and a Drone under Incomplete Information (TSP-DI), for disaster relief. Given the importance of automation in real-time environments, a strong emphasis is placed on robotic solutions. For the OOBSRP with manual and robotic carts, we prove that Reopt is asymptotically optimal with probability one under broad stochastic conditions. From a worst-case perspective, no policy can improve Reopt by more than 50\%, as it is shown to be asymptotically two-competitive. A computational study confirms that Reopt's gaps to the complete-information optimum are small, e.g. averaging less than 5\% for a cost-minimization objective. A pattern analysis of Complete-Information Optimal Solutions (CIOSs), generated with dynamic programming algorithms, identifies simple algorithmic enhancements - like eliminating waiting, intervention, or strategic relocation - that further reduce costs and delivery times. These findings suggest limited benefits of anticipatory (including AI-based) algorithms in OOBSRP. Conversely, for TSP-DI, where road blockages reveal dynamically, Reopt performs poorly in the worst case, as we reveal its exponentially growing competitive ratio. We show that policies delaying deliveries for drone surveillance are significantly superior in competitive ratio. A proposed hybrid policy achieves best average and worst-case results in experiments. Using battery-limited drones introduces a challenging static subproblem within these policies, classified as Drone Routing Problems with Energy Replenishment (DRP-E). We develop a Very Large-Scale Neighborhood Search (VLNS) and an exact method for generic DRP-Es. VLNS searches an exponential-sized neighborhood of a promising solution entirely in polynomial runtime, making it ideal for real-time policies or intensification in metaheuristics. This dissertation underscores the importance of analytical guarantees and comparisons to the optimum in online algorithm design, as policy effectiveness often diverges from intuition and varies significantly across problems.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Schwind2025, author = {Schwind, Mara}, title = {„Insgesamt sah ich wirklich die Wellen an mir vorbeirauschen, mich darin befindend" - Die Folgen negativer Reaktionen gegen Wissenschaftler*innen in den sozialen Medien}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-15627}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {236 Seiten}, year = {2025}, abstract = {Wissenschaftler*innen werden immer h{\"a}ufiger zum Ziel von Kritik, Anfeindungen und {\"A}hnlichem in den sozialen Medien. Die Studie nimmt die reziproken Effekte dieser negativen Reaktionen in den Blick. Konkret wird untersucht, mit welchen Arten negativer Reaktionen Wissenschaftler*innen konfrontiert werden, welche mentalen Verarbeitungs- und Bewertungsprozesse in diesem Kontext relevant sind und wie die Betroffenen mit den negativen Reaktionen anschließend umgehen, um die entstandene Belastungssituation zu bew{\"a}ltigen. Neben der theoretischen Aufarbeitung der Thematik wird daf{\"u}r auf qualitative Leitfadeninterviews mit betroffenen Wissenschaftler*innen zur{\"u}ckgegriffen. Die Erkenntnisse der Studie werden in einem „Modell der Konfrontation mit negativen Reaktionen in den sozialen Medien" zusammengef{\"u}hrt. Das Modell erm{\"o}glicht zum einen die strukturierte Beschreibung entsprechender Vorf{\"a}lle und kann zum anderen als theoretisch-konzeptionelle Grundlage f{\"u}r weitere empirische Untersuchungen dienen.}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Gruber2025, author = {Gruber, Martin}, title = {Tackling Test Flakiness: Understanding the Problem and Providing Practical Mitigations}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-15549}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {127 Seiten}, year = {2025}, abstract = {"Software is eating the world". With this phrase from his 2011 Wall Street Journal interview, Marc Andreessen predicted a decade of disruptive software-based innovations affecting various industries. Today, over ten years later, many of his predictions have come true: six of the seven most valuable companies worldwide are computer technology firms, and more than half of the world's population has access to the internet and owns a smartphone, with numbers still growing rapidly. The increasing importance of software has also changed software development. To ensure product quality despite high complexity and fast product cycles, software developers started to adopt continuous integration and regression testing practices: each change to an existing system is automatically tested and reverted in case it breaks any existing functionality. As a result, large software projects are conducting millions of test executions each day. One obstacle to such extensive testing are non-deterministic tests that can pass and fail without any changes to the underlying system or the test itself. These tests are commonly referred to as flaky tests. Flaky tests break regression testing, as they cause test failures that are unrelated to the changes that are being tested. Developers are forced to investigate these intermittent failures, wasting their time and decreasing their trust in testing. This thesis presents our research that aims at understanding and mitigating test flakiness. To comprehend the nature of flaky tests, we conducted both code-based studies on open-source projects, as well as a developer survey. All our investigations confirmed that flakiness is a frequently occurring and severe issue. The causes of flakiness, however, depend on the domain of the project and the source of the test: while asynchronous waiting and concurrency are overall the most prevalent causes aside from test order dependencies, Python projects tend to experience more flakiness caused by networking and randomness. Flaky tests that were not written by developers but generated automatically tend to be more often caused by randomness or unspecified behavior. To avoid test flakiness in generated tests, developers can use existing flakiness suppression mechanisms of test generation frameworks, which we found to be effective. In general, however, most developers currently address the issue of test flakiness by rerunning failing tests. Nevertheless, they would like more support when dealing with test flakiness, namely better visualizations, automated detection and debugging techniques, and education on the topic. In response to this feedback, we developed and evaluated a generic flakiness prediction approach, as well as an automated flakiness debugging technique. Our flakiness prediction method is easy to use and widely applicable. In contrast to previous techniques, it avoids any form of static or dynamic analysis. Instead, it relies solely on a test's execution result history and version control information, two commonly available artifacts. Additionally, it aims to classify real-world failures as either caused by flakiness or a regression. Previous techniques mainly focused on identifying potential flaky test cases in test suites, a related but less actionable question. An evaluation on a large-scale automotive software project yielded positive results. Our approach showed a strong predictive performance (95.5\% F1-score), outperforming the previously used heuristic. We also introduced Spectrum-based Flaky Fault Localization (SFFL), an automated debugging technique that aims to pinpoint the specific lines in the source code that cause a flaky test's non-deterministic behavior. SFFL extends traditional Spectrum-based Fault Localization (SFL) by considering multiple coverage behaviors of the same test case, a highly common phenomenon among flaky tests. Our evaluation on 101 flaky Python tests showed that SFFL outperforms traditional SFL and was able to narrow down the flaky fault's location to 3.5\% of a project's code base on average.}, subject = {Softwareentwicklung}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{GhoshDastidar2025, author = {Ghosh Dastidar, Kanishka}, title = {Using Context for Credit Card Fraud Detection}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-15561}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {147 Seiten}, year = {2025}, abstract = {Online payment fraud is one of the biggest challenges accompanying the ubiquitous adoption of digital payment methods. The academic literature shows that providing data-driven models with additional context of a transaction results in significant improvements in fraud detection performance. However, the methods used to generate suitable context representations often rely on human expert knowledge, which is expensive and suffers from several limitations. In this thesis, we propose different methods to automate this process by learning these context representations end-to-end on the fraud detection objective. Each of these methods is evaluated on millions of real-world transactions from Worldline, our industrial partner. Central to this thesis is our proposal of the Neural Aggregate Generator (NAG), a neural network that learns context representations automatically. The architecture of the NAG is designed to resemble the structure of expert feature aggregates, while also addressing their limitations. Our evaluation of the NAG reveals that it outperforms both approaches that use expert aggregates and other end-to-end methods across several months of testing. A thorough evaluation shows that the NAG improves over other approaches on several key factors including model size and robustness to shorter sequences. We propose several extensions to the NAG with the dual motive of improved alignment with expert aggregates and improved expressiveness. Our evaluation of these extensions shows comparable performance to the NAG with ancillary benefits in terms of prospective interpretability and model size. We also introduce the novel paradigm of using \lq future' transactions as context. Our analysis of real-world data from Worldline shows that verification of transactions are often delayed by several days and that within this delay there are often several transactions booked on the card which can be used as additional context. We show that this future context improves the performance of sequence models. Moreover, we also show that a balance between past and future context yields the best results and that using future context allows the use of shorter sequences overall. Beyond context-based fraud detection, we also provide an initial proposal of generating synthetic credit card data using Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), showing that a Wasserstein GAN can be used to generated synthetic data similar to a popular publicly available credit card fraud dataset. We also describe several possible directions for future work including the incorporation of a adapted self-attention mechanism to the NAG and the use of transformers for synthetic data generation.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Sleziona2025, author = {Sleziona, Philipp}, title = {Transparency and Control about Privacy in Data-Driven Online Services: An Investigation of Design Choices and Users' Data Disclosure Decision-Making}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-15501}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {iv, 154 Seiten}, year = {2025}, abstract = {As modern online services are increasingly data-driven, users' data disclosure is becoming a decisive factor for the success of companies' business models. Extensive disclosure of personal data raises concerns for users' privacy that managers of online services and regulators need to address. Implementing transparency and control about an online service's data practices has become the dominant approach to address these concerns. However, the effects of transparency and control on users' data disclosure behavior have been found to be ambivalent. While some studies in the field of privacy research confirm that implementing transparency and control features can be an effective means to raise users' willingness to disclose data, other studies have found only minuscule, and sometimes even opposing effects of transparency and control on users' disclosure behavior. Such heterogeneous effects not only hinder estimating the consequences of regulatory and managerial efforts aimed at creating transparency and control but also impede generating clear guidelines on how to provide transparency and control in the most effective manner. A closer examination of individuals' underlying decision-making mechanisms in response to provisions of transparency and control in disclosure decision scenarios may help to improve our understanding of the causes of diverging disclosure behavior. A better understanding of these underlying decisionmaking mechanisms will further help to assess specific designs of transparency and control features and their impact on the business models of online services as well as users' privacy. Therefore, this thesis explores users' decision-making mechanisms and behavioral reactions to the provision of transparency and control in data disclosure situations. The thesis consists of four essays that employ different research methods, including systematic literature reviews and quantitative studies. The findings of the essays contribute to a better understanding of the effects of transparency and control on user decision-making in the privacy domain by (1) offering conceptualizations that provide a lens for studying users' decision-making processes and their disclosure behavior in reaction to transparency and control features (2) examining how different implementations of transparency and control features affect users' decision-making processes and effort in decision-making which causes differences in users' disclosure behavior, and (3) by investigating the effects of transparently communicated content and relevant pieces of information in so far underexplored data disclosure scenarios between users and a data-sharing firm network.}, subject = {Transparenz}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Wolff2025, author = {Wolff, Monika-Sybille}, title = {F{\"o}rderung situativer, aufgabenbezogener Emotionen von Studierenden durch eine Value-Intervention}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-15521}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {336 Seiten}, year = {2025}, abstract = {Emotionen spielen eine wesentliche Rolle f{\"u}r Motivation, Leistung und erfolgreiches Lernen (vgl. z.B. Pekrun et al., 2002; Pekrun \& Perry, 2014). Forschungsergebnisse zeigen jedoch, dass positive Emotionen wie Lernfreude im Bildungsverlauf tendenziell abnehmen, w{\"a}hrend negative Emotionen wie Angst oder Langeweile zunehmend auftreten (Vierhaus et al., 2016). Trotz verschiedener theoretischer Ans{\"a}tze zur Emotionsregulation und Emotionsintervention steckt die empirische Forschung in diesem Bereich noch in den Anf{\"a}ngen. Bestehende Interventionen konzentrieren sich haupts{\"a}chlich auf Pr{\"u}fungsangst und stehen h{\"a}ufig vor Herausforderungen hinsichtlich ihrer nachhaltigen Wirksamkeit (z.B. Hagenauer, Klaß \& Gl{\"a}ser-Zikuda, 2016) sowie ihrer praktischen Implementierbarkeit (z.B. Brandenberger, Hagenauer \& Hascher, 2018). Die vorliegende Studie untersucht die Effekte einer Utility-Value-Intervention auf das situative, aufgabenbezogene emotionale Erleben von Studierenden. Da Value-Interventionen (z.B. Harackiewicz et al., 2014) auf eine Verbesserung der subjektiven Kontroll- und Wert-Einsch{\"a}tzungen von Leistungsaktivit{\"a}ten durch wertinduktive Prompts abzielen, wurde auf Grundlage der Kontroll-Wert-Theorie (Pekrun, 2000, 2006) angenommen, dass sich diese Intervention {\"u}ber die Modulation von Kontroll- und Wert-Appraisals positiv auf die Entstehung von Leistungsemotionen auswirkt. Im Rahmen eines experimentellen Within-Subjects-Designs erhielten 312 Lehramtsstudierende aus zwei Online-Seminaren („Leistungsemotionen" und „Klassenf{\"u}hrung") {\"u}ber den Verlauf eines Semesters jeweils drei Utility-Value-Treatments. Die Intervention umfasste sowohl direkte als auch indirekte Prompts: Erstere stellten mittels Advance Organizers die Relevanz der in der Lernaufgabe gef{\"o}rderten Kompetenzen explizit heraus, w{\"a}hrend Letztere in relevanzinduzierende Aufgaben eingebettet waren. In diesen Aufgaben entwickelten die Studierenden durch die Evaluation von Zitaten eigenst{\"a}ndige Relevanzargumente (vgl. Gaspard et al., 2017). Zur Erfassung situativer Emotionen sowie von Valenz- und Kontrollkognitionen wurden Frageb{\"o}gen sowohl zu Treatment- als auch zu Non-Treatment-Messzeitpunkten eingesetzt. Die Ergebnisse einer Conditional Process Analysis mit Mehrebenendaten (Hayes, 2018) offenbarten zeitabh{\"a}ngige Effekte: In der Substichprobe „Klassenf{\"u}hrung" wirkte sich das Treatment zu Beginn des Semesters zun{\"a}chst negativ auf das emotionale Erleben aus, w{\"a}hrend es gegen Semesterende eine positive Wirkung entfaltete. In der Substichprobe „Leistungsemotionen" zeigte sich hingegen ein gegens{\"a}tzliches Muster. Dar{\"u}ber hinaus variierte der Mediationsprozess: W{\"a}hrend in der Substichprobe „Klassenf{\"u}hrung" prim{\"a}r Valenzkognitionen zur Vermittlung der Effekte beitrugen, wurde in der Substichprobe „Leistungsemotionen" eine Mediation {\"u}ber Kontrollkognitionen beobachtet. Die Befunde verdeutlichen die Relevanz kontextueller Faktoren f{\"u}r die Wirksamkeit einer Utility-Value-Intervention zur F{\"o}rderung des situativen emotionalen Erlebens und liefern wertvolle Impulse f{\"u}r die Weiterentwicklung zielgerichteter Interventionsstrategien.}, subject = {Emotion}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Raich2025, author = {Raich, Krispin}, title = {Multimodal Data Space for Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-15496}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {xv, 111 Seiten}, year = {2025}, abstract = {Modern Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITSs) are comprehensive applications that must cope with a multitude of challenges while meeting strict service and security standards. One of these challenges is a fast, secure, reliable, and universal way to store and exchange data in such a traffic system. Furthermore, multimodal scenarios where different types of vehicles (e.g., cars and Unmanned Aerial System) interact with each other, are increasingly emerging. To overcome these challenges, this thesis presents a set of key innovations to establish a multimodal capable data space for transport application. Therefore, a multimodal optimized geographic model is presented, called SpatialJSON, that is capable of depicting two- and three-dimensional geometries. To accomplish this feat, SpatialJSON extends the popular GeoJSON format with two new data types: area and corridor. Exchanging, managing, and storing data is handled in a novel data-centric middleware, called Large Scale Multimodal Data Processing Middleware for Intelligent Transport Systems (LDPM). This LDPM uses cryptographic- and trust-based schemas to allow secure data exchange and provide data quality assessment. Furthermore, a service architecture is introduced, that fulfils modern service requirements. Trust management is also another essential part of a C-ITS. Hence, a novel scheme to describe traffic related evidence in a multimodal environment is introduced. This schema allows assessing arbitrary traffic related data. This information is then processed in a specialized and modified Bayesian Inference (BI) function. Subsequently, a comprehensive data centric trust management method is introduced. Finally, a use case is presented that relies on the aforementioned technologies to collect data in a hazardous environmental. This data is then distributed and managed via the LDPM, and finally visualized.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Wild2025, author = {Wild, Matthias}, title = {A statistical perspective on machine learning: three essays on improvement, application and interpretation of predictive algorithms}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-15311}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {III, 113 Seiten}, year = {2025}, abstract = {In this thesis we address a series of topics at the interface between statistics and machine learning. This includes the improvement of predictive algorithms using statistical concepts, potential and challenges in the application of predictive algorithms in areas traditionally covered by statistical theory, and the interpretation of black-box algorithms by means of statistical hypothesis testing.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Nagelmueller2023, author = {Nagelm{\"u}ller, Mauritius}, title = {Litigation Finance in Environmental Disputes}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-15269}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {XLV, 266 Seiten}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Litigation finance can be deployed within the field of environmental disputes as effectively as in traditionally targeted practice areas, in order to further the aims of environmental protection. To substantiate this statement, the mechanism of litigation finance will be scrutinized first, alongside its application to date in the four jurisdictions where its usage is established. Secondly, features characteristic of environmental disputes will be identified in order to assess the potential of their applicability to litigation finance. Finally, these two domains are analyzed in an integrated manner, through case studies of environmental disputes which have been financed to identify key challenges as well as potential impact. In conclusion, this thesis describes how litigation finance can be effectively employed for environmental disputes and offers a guideline for financing environmental disputes successfully.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Greifenstein2024, author = {Greifenstein, Luisa}, title = {Supporting Primary School Programming Education through Formative Feedback}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-15188}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {viii, 204 Seiten}, year = {2024}, abstract = {Children are increasingly surrounded by computer science aspects in their everyday life. Primary school education aims at empowering children to participate in and reflect on their environment. Therefore, computer science related contents such as programming are increasingly introduced into primary school curricula. However, this also involves challenges in particular for teachers, who need to familiarise themselves with the new curriculum. As a result, primary school teachers often struggle to help primary school children with their programming issues. Corrective feedback given during the learning process (i. e. formative feedback) can help by promoting cognitive factors such as content knowledge. This thesis therefore aims to support primary school programming education through formative feedback. In order to shed light on different perspectives, both teachers and children participated in the studies in a mixed methods design. Teachers' challenges and children's programming issues were explored as a basis for knowing what both target groups struggle with. This was done by conducting content analysis on the challenges and issues collected and using the resulting categories for further quantitative analysis. The effects of different characteristics of feedback on the effectiveness and efficiency of teaching and learning programming were then explained. This was done by asking the teachers and children to explain their ratings and conducting content analysis on their explanations. The support of primary school programming education through formative feedback builds on the major challenge of teachers' lack of content knowledge and the corresponding strategies of teacher training and automated feedback. Indeed, automated feedback was found to be mostly helpful for debugging and task creation. In order to provide direct support to children, common programming issues were identified in terms of the understanding of programming concepts and the usage of the programming environment. Effects on children's learning and their preferences were identified for several feedback characteristics, leading for example to elaborated hints instead of simple direct instructions. Based on these results, a formative feedback approach of hint cards was developed and evaluated. The hint cards approach proved to be a useful example strategy for supporting primary school programming education through formative feedback.}, subject = {R{\"u}ckmeldung}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Stumpf2024, author = {Stumpf, Peter Frederik}, title = {Partial Representation Extension and Simultaneous Representation of Intersection Graphs}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-15201}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {IX, 208 Seiten}, year = {2024}, abstract = {Many real world problems can be modeled with geometric intersection graphs. A (geometric) intersection representation of a graph G=(V,E) is a family {R_v}_{v\in V} of geometric objects such that two geometric objects R_u, R_v intersect if and only if the corresponding vertices u, v are adjacent in G. The most prominent class of intersection graphs are interval graphs, which have representations consisting only of intervals on the real line. Interval graphs have applications in genetics, scheduling, archaeology and many more fields. The recognition problem asks the question whether a given graph belongs to a certain graph class. Two natural generalizations of the recognition problem are the partial representation extension problem and the simultaneous representation problem. In the partial representation extension problem one is given a graph G and a partial representation, i.e., a representation of a subgraph of G. The question then is whether the partial representation can be extended to the whole graph G without changing the given partial representation. In the simultaneous representation problem one is given multiple graphs G_1,...,G_k that can have shared parts, and the question is whether there are representations of all input graphs such that shared vertices are represented by the same geometric objects. Often the sunflower case is considered, where the shared part of any two input graphs is the same. We determine the complexity of the partial representation extension problem and the simultaneous representation problem, especially in the sunflower case for various intersection graph classes. We also improve the running time for various intersection graph classes. In particular, we show that the partial representation extension problem for circular-arc graphs is NP-complete and that the simultaneous representation problem for interval graphs can be solved in linear time in the sunflower case, answering open questions from 2014 and 2010.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Grabl2024, author = {Grabl, Susanne}, title = {How Technological Advancements and Digitalization Impact Both Organizational Behavior and Work Structures}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-15149}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {IV, 153 Seiten}, year = {2024}, abstract = {Organizations are in a constant state of flux, making transformations an inevitable aspect of their evolution and adaptation (By, 2005; Kotter, 1995). Transformations in organizations take many forms. These include sustainability transformations intended to make organizations more sustainable and fit for the future (Bansal, 2005; Corbett \& Mellouli, 2017; Kim et al., 2017; Robertson \& Barling, 2013). Additionally, transformations can affect day-to-day work and impact working practices (Orlikowski, 2002; Watson-Manheim et al., 2002, 2012). On the one hand, this enables more flexible working conditions through the introduction of hybrid work, for instance (Halford, 2005). On the other hand, new digital transformations, such as platform work (Deng et al., 2016; Deng \& Joshi, 2016; Kittur et al., 2013; Kost et al., 2018), allow organizations to outsource work. Platform work allows users to work completely flexibly and organize their working day according to their needs (Deng et al., 2016; Deng \& Joshi, 2016; Kost et al., 2018). A distinction can be made between different types of platforms. There are platforms that require physical labor, such as Uber (Duggan et al., 2020; M{\"o}hlmann et al., 2021), where transportation trips can be booked, or DoorDash, where food is delivered (Griesbach et al., 2019). Furthermore, there are entirely virtual online platforms. These include freelancing platforms such as Topcoder or Upwork, where workers advertise their profiles for jobs such as web design (Howcroft \& Bergvall-K{\aa}reborn, 2019; Shafiei Gol et al., 2019; Taylor \& Joshi, 2019). They are evaluated by their clients and paid according to their work performance. There is also another type of platform with very low entry barriers: micro-task crowdsourcing platforms (Bush \& Balven, 2021; Deng et al., 2016; Deng \& Joshi, 2016; Wong et al., 2020). Here, people can perform currently posted tasks without prior application and receive a small remuneration (Deng et al., 2016). Digital transformations in the workplace change work processes and practices in the long term (Carroll et al., 2023). For instance, the introduction of hybrid work allows employees to divide their working time between the office and remote locations (Halford, 2005). Studies have shown that this shift has not negatively impacted employee performance, but has actually improved it (Abdullah et al., 2020; Mann \& Holdsworth, 2003; Wessel et al., 2021). Thanks to the gain in flexibility, employees are at least as productive as in mere office work. However, this can also have negative effects, for example on the training of new employees or on maintaining social contacts among colleagues (Hafermalz \& Riemer, 2020; Weritz et al., 2022). Another transformation changing organizations, particularly day-to-day work, is the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) (Strich et al., 2021). AI encompasses a range of technologies that aim to mimic human cognitive processes or learn independently to solve problems (Asatiani, Malo, et al., 2021; Benbya et al., 2021; Berente et al., 2021). AI differs from previous technologies in terms of its self-learning nature, its (partial) autonomy in decision-making, and its opacity (Asatiani, Malo, et al., 2021; Barredo Arrieta et al., 2020). A special type of AI in use is generative AI (GAI). GAI is a model capable of creating apparently new content such as texts, codes, images, etc. (Brynjolfsson et al., 2023; Susarla et al., 2023). GAI applications like ChatGPT and Bard have quickly gained a large user base due to their easy accessibility, applicability, and versatility (Alavi et al., 2024; Kowalczyk et al., 2023). In addition to private use, GAI is utilized in various work processes across different professions (Benbya et al., 2024; Brynjolfsson et al., 2023), benefiting employees and organizations by improving the quality and efficiency of work (Brynjolfsson et al., 2023; Jia et al., 2024). In my dissertation, I explore these various types of transformation. Thereby, I contribute to a dynamic field and demonstrate how transformations in organizations can have a lasting impact on work processes. I have approached this multifaceted topic in a total of four studies.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Hofstadler2024, author = {Hofstadler, Julian}, title = {Qualitative and quantitative convergence results for randomised integration methods}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-15196}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {III, 80 Seiten}, year = {2024}, abstract = {In this thesis different randomised integration methods based on either, randomised Quasi-Monte Carlo, or (adaptive) Markov chain Monte Carlo methods are studied. Depending on the underlying integration problem we show qualitative and quantitative results, which ensure the asymptotic correctness of an algorithm or provide explicit error bounds. The first problem we consider is Lebesgue integration in the unit cube. We prove that a class of structured randomised integration methods is consistent w.r.t. convergence in mean and probability for any integrable function. Under slightly stronger integrability conditions we show that one also has almost sure convergence for median modified methods. We demonstrate the applicability of our theoretical results by considering randomly shifted lattice rules, randomised (t,d)-sequences, Latin hypercube samples, and randomised Frolov points. Secondly, we study integration w.r.t. probability measures which are available only via their non-normalised density. In this context we investigate Markov chain Monte Carlo methods which satisfy a spectral gap condition and functions which do not need to have a finite second moment. We prove error bounds for the absolute mean error where the rate of convergence is optimal. Illustrative scenarios where our theory is applicable are the random walk Metropolis algorithm as well as slice samplers. Finally, we study so-called adaptive increasingly rare Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms. Based on a simultaneous Wasserstein contraction assumption we estimate the mean squared error and also prove bounds which characterise the path-wise convergence of the estimator. To demonstrate the applicability of our results we consider a number of examples, among which are doubly intractable distributions.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Faltermaier2024, author = {Faltermaier, Stefan}, title = {A Sociotechnical Perspective on Digital Transformation of Work in Organizations, on Platforms, and in Academia}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-15233}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {ii, 191 Seiten}, year = {2024}, abstract = {The findings of this dissertation reveal that digital transformation in the workplace accelerates ongoing changes in work practices, leading to transformations in organizations on both social and technological levels (study one). A key challenge identified in our case from study one is that highly virtual and digital work environments can undermine the integration of new employees and weaken organizational cohesion, resulting in more isolated work that tends to occur either individually or in small groups. In completely detached work settings (study two), our findings emphasize the prevalence of negative work experiences - frustration in our case - and the central role of both social and technical antecedents. Work settings devoid of any organizational framework, such as microtask crowd work, show an even greater detachment from shared values and structures compared to study one, posing significant challenges for the workers involved. These challenging conditions for individuals and organizations highlight the necessity for further research and the development of innovative theories to better comprehend these dynamics, and to devise strategies to manage these challenges effectively. Studies three and four build on this premise. In these studies, within the context of the digital transformation of academic work, we demonstrated how ML combined with XAI applications can be employed in theory development.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Rose2024, author = {Rose, Julian}, title = {Poor Economics and the Long Term: Empirical Essays on Energy and Economic Poverty}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-15124}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {121 Seiten}, year = {2024}, abstract = {This dissertation explores different aspects of poverty specific to urban and rural areas. The first two chapters examine energy access for poor urban households, emphasizing the need for effective energy policies that ensure access while considering environmental and climate impacts. The final two chapters analyze the long-term effects of transfer programs targeting poor rural households, aiming to overcome poverty traps. The dissertation expands the methodological toolkit typically used in economics, addressing increasing concerns about the generalizability of experimental results, the narrow focus of research question in causal research, and the credibility crisis of empirical research.}, subject = {Armut}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Walsh2024, author = {Walsh, Florian}, title = {Computing the Binomial Part of Polynomial Ideals}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-15096}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {vi, 131 Seiten}, year = {2024}, abstract = {Given an ideal in a polynomial ring over a field, we present a complete algorithm to compute its binomial part.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Berger2024, author = {Berger, Christian}, title = {Towards Fast and Adaptive Byzantine State Machine Replication for Planetary-Scale Systems}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-15059}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {ix, 181 Seiten}, year = {2024}, abstract = {State machine replication (SMR) is a classical approach for building resilient distributed systems. In Byzantine fault-tolerant (BFT) systems, no concrete assumptions are made about the behavior of faulty replicas. With the advancement of distributed ledger technologies (DLT), planetary-scale BFT SMR ist becoming practical and necessary as it can serve as a consensus primitive to keep the ledger consistent. In our view, the alignment of BFT SMR to DLT brings new challenges, for instance the scalability aspect, where recent research works less frequently address latency improvements than throughput improvements. Further challenges include the geographic dispersion of replicas within a planetary-scale system and the need of a BFT SMR protocol to react to environmental changes during runtime. This thesis has the objective to improve BFT SMR for planetary-scale systems by lowering the protocol latency observed by clients and by making the BFT SMR system adaptive, i.e., enabling replicas to react to perceived changes such as changing network characteristics or faulty replicas. As a first contribution of this thesis, we discover that fast, consensus-free (read-only) operations is a flawed optimization in seminal BFT SMR frameworks, such as PBFT and BFT-SMaRt. We explain how the read-only optimization can violate the protocol's liveness by showing an attack and then present a solution that makes the overall, optimized protocol both live and linearizable. The second contribution is Adaptive Wide-Area Replication (AWARE), which enables a geo-replicated system to adapt to its environment, thus improving the geographical scalability of consensus if replicas are dispersed across the world. Essentially, AWARE is an automated and dynamic voting-weight tuning and leader positioning scheme, which supports the emergence of fast consensus quorums in the system and builds upon previous work, the WHEAT protocol. AWARE combines reliable self-monitoring with a consensus latency prediction model, thus striving to minimize the system's consensus latency at runtime, which subsequently results in latency improvements observed by clients scattered across the globe, which we validate through experiments. The third contribution presents FlashConsensus, a protocol derived from AWARE, that also adjusts the resilience threshold. The core idea is the tentative use of a lower resilience threshold which leads to smaller consensus quorums and thus consensus acceleration in common-case scenarios where we expect only few faulty replicas. FlashConsensus achieves threat-level awareness through the incorporation of two modes of operation and BFT forensic support and guarantees liveness and linearizability under optimal resilience. Moreover, FlashConsensus allows for client-side speculation by using incremental consistency guarantees to further lower request latency. Additionally, we investigate on the question whether we can reason about the performance of large-scale systems utilizing simulations. We discover, that we can faithfully forecast the performance of BFT protocols by plugging real protocol implementations into a high-performance network simulator. For instance, simulation results reveal that, using 51 replicas scattered across the planet, FlashConsensus can finalize operations in less than 0.4 s, which is half of the time required for a PBFT-like protocol in the same network, and matching the latency of this protocol running on the best possible internet links (transmitting at 67\% of the speed of light).}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Hofer2024, author = {Hofer, Denise}, title = {Die Implementierung Inklusiver Begabungsf{\"o}rderung - Eine Interventionsstudie zur Implementierung Inklusiver Begabungsf{\"o}rderung in Niederbayern}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-15065}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {315 Seiten}, year = {2024}, abstract = {In der vorliegenden Forschungsarbeit wird das zweij{\"a}hrige Pilotprojekt „BegIN-Begabungsf{\"o}rderung in Niederbayern" wissenschaftlich begleitet. Im Zuge des Implementierungsprojekts werden Kriterien f{\"u}r ein Begabungssiegel entwickelt, mit dem die neun teilnehmenden Pilotprojektschulen f{\"u}r drei Jahre zertifiziert werden sollen. Um die Lehrpersonen bei der Unterrichtsentwicklung zu unterst{\"u}tzen, wird mit Lehrer:innenfortbildungen interveniert. Alle Schulleiter:innen der teilnehmenden Pilotprojektschulen und ein Vertreter der Schulbeh{\"o}rde werden in zwei Erhebungszeitr{\"a}umen um ihre Einsch{\"a}tzungen bez{\"u}glich ihres Begriffsverst{\"a}ndnisses, ihrer Erwartungshaltungen, der auftretenden Herausforderungen und der notwendigen Rahmenbedingungen interviewt. Zus{\"a}tzlich werden die Lehrpersonen der teilnehmenden Pilotprojektschulen ebenfalls zu zwei Zeitpunkten in einem Abstand von einem Jahr quantitativ zu ihren subjektiven Einsch{\"a}tzungen bez{\"u}glich der Umsetzung von Inklusiver Begabungsf{\"o}rderung befragt. Es werden im Rahmen dieser Arbeit zahlreiche f{\"o}rderliche und einige hemmende Einflussfaktoren bei der Implementierung Inklusiver Begabungsf{\"o}rderung untersucht, die Schulen in ihren Entwicklungsprozessen im Kontext Inklusiver Begabungsf{\"o}rderung miteinbeziehen und ber{\"u}cksichtigt k{\"o}nnen. Dadurch kann Inklusive Begabungsf{\"o}rderung allen Sch{\"u}ler:innen zugute kommen.}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Faber2024, author = {Faber, Elke}, title = {amore patriae: Kulturgeschichtliche Betrachtungen zur Rolle von Partikularsynoden im politischen System Polen-Litauens in den Jahren 1447-1643}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-14940}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {1215 Seiten}, year = {2024}, abstract = {In der Fr{\"u}hen Neuzeit waren Kirche und weltliche Politik eng verflochten. Die katholischen Synoden im fr{\"u}hneuzeitlichen Polen-Litauen bildeten hiervon keine Ausnahme: Obwohl Versammlungen des Klerus, waren sie stark ins politische System eingebunden, das sich zu einer Wahlmonarchie mit starkem Adel und parlamentarischen Elementen entwickelte. Diese Arbeit untersucht systematisch die politischen Aspekte der Provinzial- und Primatialsynoden in Polen-Litauen von 1447 bis 1643 aus der Perspektive der Kulturgeschichte des Politischen. Zun{\"a}chst wurde eine bereinigte Liste aller Synoden erstellt, um Frequenz und Verteilung zu analysieren und diese mit der Aktivit{\"a}t des Reichstags zu vergleichen. Die Arbeit untersucht in der Folge die institutionelle Ausformung der Synoden, ihre Vor- und Nachbereitung sowie die Abl{\"a}ufe und Beratungen. Zudem beleuchtet sie die Funktionen, die diese Klerus-Versammlungen im politischen System erf{\"u}llten, und den Beziehungen, die sie zu anderen politischen Akteuren ‒ insbesondere dem K{\"o}nig, dem Adel und dem Reichstag ‒ unterhielten. Da sich im Untersuchungszeitraum von zweihundert Jahren erhebliche Ver{\"a}nderungen in H{\"a}ufigkeit, Funktionen und politischen Beziehungen zeigten, wurde dieser in vier Abschnitte zu je rund f{\"u}nfzig Jahren gegliedert: Die erste Phase deckt sich weitestgehend mit der Regentschaft Kazimierzs IV (1447-1492), in der sich die parlamentarischen Elemente im politischen System Polen-Litauens herausbildeten. In der zweiten Phase (1493-1561) traf das nun voll entwickelte System auf eine rege Synodalt{\"a}tigkeit. Der dritte Abschnitt beleuchtet die Phase nach dem abrupten Einbruch der Synodalt{\"a}tigkeit (1561-1600). Der vierte Abschnitt (1600-1643) untersucht das moderate Wiederaufleben der Synoden in jener Epoche, in der sich das politische System durch ein Erstarken des Klientelwesens ver{\"a}nderte. Innerhalb jedes Abschnitts werden die vier Hauptfragen nach Frequenz, institutioneller Ausformung, Funktionen und Beziehungen zu politischen Akteuren behandelt.}, subject = {Politisches System}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Grassl2024, author = {Graßl, Isabella}, title = {Diversity in Programming Education: Effects of Topic and Group Constellation on Young Programming Novices}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-15049}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {xi, 256 Seiten}, year = {2024}, abstract = {The field of software engineering faces a significant diversity crisis, characterized by a critical lack of heterogeneity despite ongoing efforts to promote gender equality. The persistent male dominance in this domain has created an urgent need for more heterogeneous groups in software engineering. This lack of diversity not only hinders underrepresented groups from entering the field but also prevents them from gaining initial programming experiences, which are a core component of software engineering and essential for developing computational thinking. To address this crisis and its implications, early interventions are key in shaping positive perceptions, building confidence, and sparking initial interest in programming among underrepresented groups before societal stereotypes of programming as a nerdy field manifests. This means starting with basic programming courses for children and continuing through to first-year university students in order to foster technical skills and computational thinking, alongside creativity and collaboration. However, there is limited understanding of how introductory programming course designs impact diversity-dependent characteristics to create welcoming and learning-friendly environments. This understanding is particularly important for underrepresented groups, especially girls, to benefit from their first programming experiences as they are often hindered by the initial perception of programming as (1) abstract and unappealing, and (2) non-social to novices. Engaging, creative, and relatable topics in programming courses might demystify complex programming concepts, making them more accessible, less intimidating, and appealing. However, understanding programming is not just about the content---it is also about the context in which it is learned. Introducing programming as social activity is important, particularly for young learners. By emphasizing team work, we might encourage collaboration and peer support, counteracting the lone-wolf programmer stereotype. Therefore, this doctoral thesis investigates the effects of both key aspects in programming courses---(1) topic choices and (2) group constellations---on young programming novices. The aim is to provide a holistic understanding of how different course designs can support diverse learners and promote gender equality in programming education. While this research primarily addresses gender diversity due to the persistent gender gap in software engineering, it also examines additional diversity dimensions, including age, ethnicity, prior programming experience, disabilities, and educational background. A total of 13 studies were conducted within this thesis, examining the current state of educational settings and utilizing various introductory programming courses designed for children aged 8 to 18, as well as first-year university students. These studies employed different programming environments, such as Scratch and Sonic Pi, and incorporated a variety of topics and group constellations to observe their effects on student outcomes. By using a mixed-methods design, data were gathered through surveys, observations, and both data-driven and manual code analysis. Key findings reveal that it is particularly noteworthy how children utilize the programming environment to engage with and creatively express topics aligned with their interests which also align mostly with gender-stereotypes, including elements from internet and popular culture as well as socio-cultural narratives. However, gender-sensitive and neutral topic choices enhance engagement, self-efficacy, contribution, code quality and creative output, while also contributing to reduce stereotypical beliefs about programming, particularly among girls. In line with the findings for the course topic, group constellations also influence programming experiences. In particular, introducing pair programming in courses shows a promising approach for young learners, but attention must be paid to mitigate socially learned gender-stereotypical behaviours. Another finding indicates that, unlike professional software teams, mixed-diverse student teams often encounter substantial challenges, thus benefit from clear communication guidelines and supportive environments to promote better collaboration. This doctoral thesis concludes with guidelines for designing more effective and inclusive introductory programming courses. These recommendations include using gender-sensitive course materials, allowing for creative freedom through topic choices while encouraging the use of advanced programming concepts, promoting collaboration through pair programming while fostering enhanced communication, boosting self-efficacy with quick positive feedback for girls in particular, and providing emotional support for underrepresented groups. By following these guidelines, educators can create more engaging, inclusive, and effective programming courses. This may ultimately promote a more equitable and diverse future generation of professional software developers while also fostering computational thinking, encouraging a broader interest in programming among all young learners.}, subject = {Softwareentwicklung}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Masselus2024, author = {Masselus, Lise}, title = {Evaluating Poverty Alleviation: Essays on Microfinance, Energy Access and Limits to the Gold Standard in Empirical Economics}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-14981}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {145 Seiten}, year = {2024}, abstract = {In my dissertation, I combine topical contributions on microfinance and energy access, two prevalent poverty alleviation policies, with methodological contributions on how empirical economics research can contribute to effective policymaking. Chapter 1 reviews the existing experimental evidence on microfinance. We use this deep literature to highlight challenges in generalizing from empirical research. Chapter 2 and 3 provide empirical insights on the energy access-poverty nexus. We study the long-term adoption of grid electrification and evaluate whether productive use can foster adoption and impact. Chapter 4 addresses data quality, an essential yet often overlooked element in research and policymaking. This introduction provides a general overview on microfinance, energy access, and methodological critiques on common practices in empirical economics research. [from the introduction]}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Felfeli2024, author = {Felfeli, Anna}, title = {Sozialkonstruktivistische Außenpolitikforschung im nationalen, bilateralen und regionalen Handlungskontext - Die Aussagekraft von M{\"o}glichkeitsr{\"a}umen}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-15038}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {197 Seiten}, year = {2024}, abstract = {Die publikationsbasierte Dissertationsschrift besteht aus vier Einzelpublikationen und einem Manteltext. Letzterer widmet sich der theoretischen Erfassung von M{\"o}glichkeitsr{\"a}umen in der Außenpolitik. In theoriegeleiteten Fallstudien analysiert die Arbeit den Zusammenhang zwischen Identit{\"a}ten, Diskursen und Verhaltensweisen mit dem Ziel, außenpolitische M{\"o}glichkeitsr{\"a}ume in unterschiedlichen Handlungskontexten zu ermitteln. Das im Mantelteil neu generierte Modell zur Erforschung dieser M{\"o}glichkeitsr{\"a}ume {\"u}berspannt die verschiedenen Theorien der Einzelbeitr{\"a}ge und zeigt so den Mehrwert einer konstitutiven sozialkonstruktivistischen Außenpolitiktheorie auf. Im Modell werden die folgenden drei Analysefelder herausgearbeitet: 1) Historische Vorstudie, 2) Fallspezifische Diskursanalyse und 3) Konstitutive Wirkungen. Anhand der Fallstudien wird dargelegt, wie der außenpolitische Rechtfertigungsdiskurs die Identit{\"a}t und damit den M{\"o}glichkeitsraum des Akteurs entweder reproduziert, erweitert oder durchbricht und welche konkreten Implikationen dies f{\"u}r den aktuellen und zuk{\"u}nftigen Handlungsspielraum in der Außenpolitik hat. Im Ergebnis k{\"o}nnen unter Anwendung des Modells die langfristigen Wirkungen von politischen Reaktionen auf Krisenereignisse differenziert bewertet werden. Dies f{\"u}hrt zu einem besseren Verst{\"a}ndnis von Nachhaltigkeit in der Außenpolitik und legt dar, dass sozialkonstruktivistische Außenpolitikforschung in der Lage ist, {\"u}ber die Gegenwart hinaus Aussagen {\"u}ber das zu erwartende Verhalten von Staaten in einem bestimmten Handlungskontext abzugeben.}, subject = {Konstruktivismus }, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Ghaffar2024, author = {Ghaffar, Abdul Muqeet}, title = {Understanding Individuals' Willingness for Prosocial Data Disclosure: Exploring Antecedents and Investigating Strategies for its Promotion}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-15001}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {iv, 94 Seiten}, year = {2024}, abstract = {Privacy research has traditionally focused on understanding individuals' behavior in disclosing personal data by assuming that individuals disclose their data mainly out of self-interest. However, in many contexts, individuals disclose their data primarily for the benefit of others and society, thereby showing a form of prosocial behavior. This dissertation conceptualizes these types of data disclosure as prosocial data disclosures and argues that existing privacy research frameworks, such as the privacy calculus, have not been sufficiently applied in privacy research and need to be reevaluated to fully capture the complexities of prosocial data disclosures. Despite the growing relevance of understanding individuals' willingness for prosocial data disclosures, existing research in this field is limited. This dissertation consists of four essays that seek to deepen the understanding of the underlying decision-making processes of individuals by exploring the antecedents and investigating strategies that promote prosocial data disclosure. By employing different research methods, including systematic literature reviews, qualitative and quantitative surveys, interviews, workshops, and conjoint analysis, this dissertation contributes to the identification of the multifaceted antecedents of prosocial data disclosure which can be classified into different drivers and barriers. Furthermore, by integrating insights from different disciplines such as behavioral economics, social psychology, and information systems research, this dissertation provides empirical evidence for the use of message framing and the deliberate emphasis on impact uncertainty as two promising strategies in promoting prosocial data disclosure. The findings derived from all four essays inform privacy research and prosocial behavior research about the need for sophisticated theories that are capable of better capturing the complexities of prosocial data disclosure. Additionally, the findings offer practical implications for designing ethically responsible data disclosure practices while respecting individual privacy rights.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Sentanoe2024, author = {Sentanoe, Stewart}, title = {VMIaaS: Virtual Machine Introspection as a Service}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-15027}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {vi, 121 Seiten}, year = {2024}, abstract = {In this digital era, communication in the digital world is becoming part of our daily lives. One key technology that becomes part of this digital transformation is cloud computing. It allows users to have a running system as a virtual machine (VM) on the cloud without owning a physical server. Unfortunately, adversaries can also use those systems to conduct criminal activities. Therefore, developing a method to extract evidence from those systems is also necessary. One way is through digital forensics, and one method to do digital forensics of a VM is using virtual machine introspection (VMI). However, VMI has yet to be made available by any public cloud provider. This thesis addresses this issue by introducing methods for deploying VMI on public cloud providers. Four main challenges have to be solved. Firstly, VMI requires access to the hypervisor, which practically can access all VMs running on the same server. This leads to security and privacy issues where customers can introspect each other VMs. To solve this problem, this thesis introduces KVMIveggur, a versatile access control of VMI. It comes with different options that every customer can choose from based on their needs. Secondly, VMI introduces overhead to the running VM. This is because most of the introspection mechanisms perform data access to the monitored VM. Performing data access on a running VM can cause data inconsistency. Hence, pausing the VM before executing the data access is better. However, when the VM pausing frequency is high, it will affect the performance of the monitored VM. The current state-of-the-art techniques use caching to reduce the VM pausing frequency. However, it faces a problem: the cached data may be outdated compared to the actual data. Therefore, this thesis introduces VMIFresh, a better caching mechanism. We leverage both active and passive tracing mechanisms to ensure high performance and consistency of the data (freshness). Thirdly, many state-of-the-art VMI libraries and applications run perfectly only on Intel processors because Intel CPUs provide the best hardware support for VMI. However, AMD and ARM processors are getting more popular in cloud computing. Thus, it is necessary to retrofit VMI capabilities to support AMD and ARM processors. This thesis describes the requirements to employ VMI on AMD and ARM processors. We also provide the implementation of those requirements. Finally, to do introspection using VMI, it is crucial to have proper symbol information (layout and location of data structures) of the introspected operating system (OS) and user applications. While many existing VMI approaches concentrate primarily on analyzing OS data structures, analyzing user application data often receives no attention. In our approach, we address this gap by focussing on application-level introspection. We have identified several use cases that require this kind of introspection. We focus on cryptographic key extraction for two specific instances: secure shell (SSH) and transport layer security (TLS) by leveraging the power of machine learning techniques to locate those keys in the main memory effectively and efficiently. After we had solved those challenges, we combined a couple of our approaches and introduced two VMI applications: Sarracenia and VMIGuard. Sarracenia is a deception technology that tracks activities done on an SSH session. The main goal of Sarracenia is to attract adversaries away from the production system and learn about their behavior. On the other hand, VMIGuard also monitors the SSH traffic. But, it specifically monitors the activity of any git-related activities. The main goal of VMIGuard is to ensure the integrity of the hosted data from any internal malicious actor.}, subject = {Cloud Computing}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Binder2024, author = {Binder, Alexandra}, title = {Universit{\"a}t nachhaltig bauen. Vom Architekturwettbewerb zur gebauten Realit{\"a}t am Campus Passau}, isbn = {978-3-00-080180-8}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-14993}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {348 Seiten}, year = {2024}, abstract = {In der Praxis wird f{\"u}r den Bildungssektor, insbesondere f{\"u}r Universit{\"a}ten, bereits nachhaltig gebaut. H{\"a}ufig kommen hierzu Architekturwettbewerbe als regulierendes Instrument zum Einsatz. In der Theorie jedoch, im Bereich der Architekturgeschichte, wurde dieses Zusammenspiel noch wenig tiefgreifend behandelt. Vor allem, da es sich um ein architekturhistorisch junges Themenfeld handelt. Speziell {\"u}ber die nachhaltige Bauweise am Campus Passau, der erst in den 1970er Jahren im Zuge eines st{\"a}dtebaulichen Ideen- und Bauwettbewerbes entstand und stetig erweitert wird, und deren Wurzeln ist der {\"O}ffentlichkeit wenig bekannt. Um diese Informationsl{\"u}cke zu schließen und die Frage zu beantworten, wie Architekturwettbewerbe im Allgemeinen eine nachhaltige Baukultur f{\"u}r Universit{\"a}ten beg{\"u}nstigen oder sogar festschreiben k{\"o}nnen, ist die Dissertation „UNIVERSIT{\"A}T NACHHALTIG BAUEN" entstanden. In ihr wird im Zuge der Erforschung der Architekturgeschichte der Universit{\"a}t Passau analysiert, wie Architekturwettbewerbe die Entstehung ihres nachhaltigen Campus etabliert haben und wie sie das auch weiterhin tun. Somit wird ein signifikanter Beitrag zur architektur- sowie insbesondere ideengeschichtlichen Aufarbeitung von Wettbewerbsverfahren als Instrument nachhaltigen Hochschulbaus geleistet. Im Besonderen wird die Identit{\"a}t der Universit{\"a}t Passau als nachhaltige Hochschule {\"u}ber die Darlegung der Tradition klimafreundlichen Bauens am Campus, welche ihren Ursprung in Konkurrenzen hat, gefestigt. Diese exemplarische Entwicklung mit Leitbildcharakter wird erstmals unter Fokussierung auf ein zukunftsweisendes, aktuell sehr pr{\"a}sentes Thema Nachhaltigkeit, zusammenh{\"a}ngend systematisch dokumentiert, analysiert, kontextualisiert sowie kritisch diskutiert. Ziel dieser Vorgehensweise ist es, einen Nachweis fortdauernder nachhaltiger Baukultur, Architektur sowie nachhaltigen St{\"a}dtebaus am Beispiel des Campus Passau zu erbringen. Untersucht wird die Zeitspanne ab der Gr{\"u}ndung anhand der Analyse der entsprechenden Architekturwettbewerbe, mit Schwerpunkt auf das urspr{\"u}ngliche Verfahren der 70er Jahre f{\"u}r den Campus am Inn bis hin zum aktuellen Verfahren f{\"u}r den Neubau des Internationalen Wissenschaftszentrums am Spitzberg. Die so entstandenen neuen Erkenntnisse bereichern mittels Br{\"u}ckenschl{\"a}gen zwischen Theorie und Praxis die Nachhaltigkeitsforschung und den bestehenden architekturwissenschaftlichen Diskurs, er{\"o}ffnen neue Forschungsperspektiven, werden einer breiten {\"O}ffentlichkeit erstmals zug{\"a}nglich gemacht. Sie k{\"o}nnen unter anderem als Vorbild und unterst{\"u}tzendes Begleitmaterial zuk{\"u}nftiger Planungen dienen. Hervorzuheben ist dabei immer der Fokus auf die historische Entwicklung, architektonische Revolution und Tradition, die zur heutigen Identit{\"a}t des Campus Passau f{\"u}hrte.}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Stier2024, author = {Stier, Julian}, title = {Structure of Artificial Neural Networks : Empirical Investigations}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-14968}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {xxvi, 350 Seiten}, year = {2024}, abstract = {Within one decade, Deep Learning overtook the dominating solution methods of countless problems of artificial intelligence. "Deep" refers to the deep architectures with operations in manifolds of which there are no immediate observations. For these deep architectures some kind of structure is pre-defined -- but what is this structure? With a formal definition for structures of neural networks, neural architecture search problems and solution methods can be formulated under a common framework. Both practical and theoretical questions arise from closing the gap between applied neural architecture search and learning theory. Does structure make a difference or can it be chosen arbitrarily? This work is concerned with deep structures of artificial neural networks and examines automatic construction methods under empirical principles to shed light on to the so called ``black-box models''. Our contributions include a formulation of graph-induced neural networks that is used to pose optimisation problems for neural architecture. We analyse structural properties for different neural network objectives such as correctness, robustness or energy consumption and discuss how structure affects them. Selected automation methods for neural architecture optimisation problems are discussed and empirically analysed. With the insights gained from formalising graph-induced neural networks, analysing structural properties and comparing the applicability of neural architecture search methods qualitatively and quantitatively we advance these methods in two ways. First, new predictive models are presented for replacing computationally expensive evaluation schemes, and second, new generative models for informed sampling during neural architecture search are analysed and discussed.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Juhos2024, author = {Juhos, Michael}, title = {Probabilistic and geometric aspects of classical and non-commutative lp-type spaces in high dimensions}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-14857}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {viii, 157 Seiten}, year = {2024}, abstract = {This cumulative dissertation contains selected contributions to the field of asymptotic geometric analysis and high-dimensional probability. It is divided into two chapters: Chapter 1 explains some of the necessary theoretical background. In Section 1.1 it first gives a very concise history of asymptotic geometric analysis in general and then of the objects under study in particular, setting out some cornerstones in the discovery of the functional-analytic, geometric, and probabilistic properties of the spaces under consideration. The next section (1.2) gives the precise definitions and very basic properties of the three lp-type spaces that play a role in the contributed articles: the classical lp-sequence spaces, the mixed-norm sequence spaces, and the Schatten-classes Sp, each in its infinite- and finite-dimensional version. Section 1.3 is dedicated to the interplay between geometry and probability, expounding the general idea, introducing a few of the common tools, and exemplifying these on two kinds of limit theorems: Schechtman-Schmuckenschl{\"a}ger-type results and Poincar{\´e}-Maxwell-Borel lemmas. The first chapter concludes with Section 1.4, addressing a small sample of open questions pertaining to the contributed articles which are not answered in said articles and may be the interest of future research. The entirety of Chapter 2 consists of the contributed articles.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Schiele2024, author = {Schiele, Anita}, title = {Grenzschutz gegen illegale Einwanderung im Bundesstaat : ein Vergleich der rechtlichen Situation in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und in den Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-14929}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {332 Seiten}, year = {2024}, abstract = {Die Arbeit untersucht aus rechtsvergleichender Perspektive die Thematik des Grenzschutzes gegen illegale Einwanderung in den Bundesstaaten der Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika sowie der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, dort unter Ber{\"u}cksichtigung des Einflusses der Europ{\"a}ischen Union. Betrachtet werden insbesondere die Kompetenzverteilung und f{\"o}derale Konfliktl{\"o}sungsmechanismen, einschließlich der M{\"o}glichkeit, Streitigkeiten zwischen dem Bund und den Gliedstaaten gerichtlich kl{\"a}ren zu lassen.}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Auer2024, author = {Auer, Michael}, title = {Improving Automated Android Test Generation}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-14955}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {x, 140 Seiten}, year = {2024}, abstract = {Mobile apps are nowadays the preferred means to accomplish ubiquitous tasks like messaging, e-commerce and even playing games. Often, there exist multiple apps for the same purpose, and it is the choice of the end user to pick an appropriate app. Apps that behave unexpected, e.g., crash frequently, are sooner or later replaced, which isundesirable for the companies developing such apps. Thus, it is essential to tests apps properly before they are released onto the market. However, testing manually is often not only too cost-intensive but also too time-consuming in the short development phase, thus an automated solution is preferred. Testing mobile apps automatically received increased attention in the last decade from primarily people in academia, and several testing techniques evolved. One technique that yielded promising results, especially in different domains, is search-based software testing in which a metaheuristic, e.g., a genetic algorithm, is applied to solve an optimisation problem, e.g., test generation. A main objective of test generation is to produce tests that reveal as many faults as possible. This in turn requires the generation of tests that deeply explore the tested app. The core metric to quantify how much code tests cover is the measurement of code coverage, which can be computed at different levels of granularity ranging from determining the fraction of covered activities to a very fine-grained measurement that calculates the percentage of covered lines. This coverage information is then often used to guide the search of the employed metaheuristic. However, current automated test generation approaches produce tests with a rather low code coverage. Thus, a substantial part of tested apps remains unexplored, which in turn misses revealing deeply residing faults. We identified three core issues that are directly related to the generation of low-coverage tests. First, the applicability of current test generators is often limited. This comprises the fact that current state-of-the-art code coverage tools are incapable of instrumenting a substantial number of apps and consequently, test generators cannot utilise detailed coverage information during exploration. In addition, test generators are often only equipped with a primitive set of actions that are insufficient to simulate system events and complex user inputs. Second, the test execution is extremely time-consuming. This includes among other things the overhead associated with executing individual actions, intermediate restart operations as well as fitness evaluations. Since search-based algorithms require a substantial number of test executions to play out their strengths, the slow test execution impedes the effectiveness of the search. Third, the guidance offered by search-based algorithms is often hampered by applying inadequate fitness functions or by using non-representation-specific variation operators. In this thesis we address the problem of low-coverage tests in the Android domain by proposing several enhancements for the three identified core issues. Concerning the applicability problem, we provide the implementation of a robust code coverage tool that is capable of measuring coverage at different levels of granularity and requires no access to the source code. We also propose to include actions that can simulate system events as well as complex user inputs. Regarding the performance issue, we suggest the integration of a surrogate model that is capable of predicting the outcome of individual actions or complete tests over time in order to reduce the overall test execution costs. With respect to the lack of guidance offered by traditional search-based algorithms, we suggest alternative search strategies. In the case of a deceptive fitness landscape, we propose using novelty search algorithms. Alternatively, we suggest utilising estimation of distribution algorithms that require no crossover or mutation perators to sample new tests. While all those enhancements had a positive impact on the Android test generation process, the individual empirical studies highlighted that further research is necessary to unleash the full power of the proposed search-based algorithms. In particular, exploring complex user interfaces meaningfully requires more attention whether by introducing additional actions or by extracting valuable hints to infer reasonable text inputs. In addition, the guidance offered by fitness functions is often limited because they are either designed too coarse at all or do not accurately reflect the search objectives.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Daschner2024, author = {Daschner, Stefan}, title = {Essays on Trust, Behavior, and Decision-Making in the Human-Algorithm Interaction}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-14749}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {XVII, 154 Seiten}, year = {2024}, abstract = {With recent progresses in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), algorithms can support more complex tasks (Frey and Osborne, 2017) that seemed safe from automation a few years ago (Brynjolfsson and McAfee, 2012). They can even outperform human decision-making in many task domains (Meehl, 1954; Dawes et al., 1989). The prominent defeat of Garry Kasparov, the world champion in chess, in 1997 is a milestone for the potentials of algorithms, increasing the value of IBM's stock increased by \$18 billion (Norvig and Russell, 2010). More recently, universal chatbots such as ChatGPT and the Bing Chatbot Sydney can influence millions of users and provide them answers to a broad range of tasks. To gain a competitive edge, companies invest heavily in algorithmic systems (Kappelman et al., 2021), which are considered as one of the most important drivers of today's economy (Brynjolfsson and McAfee, 2011; Hogharth and Makridakis, 1981; {\"O}nkal et al., 2019). Particularly in management accounting, an algorithmic data analysis offers the potential to support a high decision quality, making their usage a key factor for success. However, algorithms can not only support, but also manipulate human decision-making (Roose et al., 2023). Algorithmic advice can lead to overtrust, i.e. to the heuristic replacement of vigilant information seeking and processing in favor of the advice provided (Mosier et al., 2001). The implementation of algorithmic decision support systems is thus no panacea to improve human decision-making. In contrast, they can entail new risks, such as the uncritical use of these algorithms (Boden, 2016). Yet, this 'dark side' of algorithms is not sufficiently investigated in the field of management accounting. With advances in machine learning, algorithmic support can become even more of a black box, blurring the reference points for evaluating its advice quality and thus increasing the risk of overtrust. Stephen Hawking even warns that AI will be "either the best, or the worst thing, ever to happen to humanity" (Alex Hern in: The Guardian: Stephen Hawking: AI will be 'either best or worst thing' for humanity, 19th October 2016). Interacting with such algorithmic systems therefore requires data literacy skills for an appropriate use. They seem to be a crucial prerequisite in today's data-driven world to reap of the benefits of algorithmic systems. If no reflective and critical interaction between human and algorithm can be ensured, the trend towards a digitalized world will be a race against the algorithm (Brynjolfsson and McAfee, 2011). This dissertation takes this understudied critical perspective on the increasing implementation of algorithmic systems and sheds light on different aspects of human-algorithm interaction, ranging from the ability to use data visualization tools to trust calibrations and critical evaluations of algorithmic advices. Study I investigates an adequate information representation of subjective multiple criteria decision problems, an important task in management accounting, to support human decision-making. Study II distinguishes different designs of the human-algorithm interaction investigated in the trust in automation literature and compiles factors influencing the calibration of trust and behavior toward the true capabilities of the algorithm. Study III examines the role of performance feedback on trust and advice usage in a forecasting task for a better understanding of the recently observed phenomenon 'algorithm aversion'. Finally, Study IV focusses on the risk of overtrust in advice in repeated interactions with a forecasting advisor and investigates the calibration of advice usage. Each study thereby represents an independent contribution and contains all information relevant to the respective research questions asked in the study.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Stoffer2024, author = {Stoffer, Gloria}, title = {Three essays on b2b solution selling - challenges in sales, contracting, and pricing}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-14728}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {VIII, 165 Seiten}, year = {2024}, abstract = {Offering solutions impose manifold challenges on suppliers. To master these challenges, suppliers need excellent commercial capabilities. This thesis considers these challenges and opportunities in sales, contracting, and pricing of complex B2B solutions in three essays: Essay 1 addresses the increased complexity for solution salespeople, who represent an essential strategic asset in solution selling. In-depth interviews with solution sales managers in study 1 and survey data from matched sales manager-salesperson dyads in study 2, reveal nine specific equifinal configurations of key personal and procedural competencies that qualify individual salespeople in their role and thus determine their solution sales success. The focus of essay 2 lies on B2B export relationships for complex product-service combinations in an international context. A regression analysis based on a survey study with 198 responses shows several direct and indirect effects of contractual and cultural constructs. The results give insights under which cultural framework conditions contract specificity serves as a safeguarding mechanism against uncertainty and opportunism. Essay 3 examines how the bidirectional agency relationship between suppliers and customers and the performance uncertainty of a solution influence B2B customers' acceptance of performance-based pricing (PBP). Drawing on a cross-industry survey with 196 managers of B2B firms, this study contributes to extend PBP literature by showing how bidirectional agency relationships shape customers' acceptance of PBP. In sum, this thesis contributes to a better understanding on how to optimize commercial capabilities in the context of national and international solution selling. It thereby focuses on addressing recently identified causes that hinder B2B firms from increasing their margins through solution selling by (1) optimizing the sales force through a better understanding of important resources and capabilities for solution selling, (2) optimizing their contractual set-up through a better understanding of cultural factors and the interplay with contract specificity, and 3) optimizing price policy through a better understanding of framework conditions, which have an impact on customers' acceptance of PBP.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Hauke2024, author = {Hauke, Alexandra}, title = {Ecofeminism and the Gothic Archives of American Folk Horror : Shadows of the Anthropos}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-14768}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {274}, year = {2024}, abstract = {This study explores American folk horror as a mode of inquiry into the literary, cultural, filmic, ecological, and political histories of the United States. By using ecofeminist theory to read American folk horror against its roots in the frontier gothic, a genre concerned with the realities and afterlives of American settler colonialism, in turn inextricably linked with the U.S.' founding myths and national narratives that developed since the arrival of the first European settlers, my approach uncovers the dual and simultaneous exploitation of women and nature since 1492, focusing on the ways human and non-human Others continue to be at the mercy of anthropocentric and capitalocentric systems. American folk horror as genre, and the frontier gothic as its archive, allows us to see the ways American founding narratives serve as and word like folklore, contributing to the perpetuation of discrimination against underprivileged groups, especially those who are seen as nature, like women. This book offers a lengthy theorization of the genre as well as both ecofeminist readings of select texts of American folk horror (Darren Aronofsky's mother!, Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Robert Eggers's The VVitch: A New-England Folktale) and a first discussion of a potential corpus of the genre ranging from frontier gothic literature and contemporary film to video games of the 2020s.}, subject = {{\"O}kofeminismus}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Mladenov2024, author = {Mladenov, Mladen}, title = {Running in the Hamster Wheel. The Foreign Policy of Serbia between National Identity and the International Society.}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-14702}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {ii, 51 Seiten}, year = {2024}, abstract = {The thesis addresses a current topic related to the foreign policy of Serbia whereby Serbian foreign policy is analysed with reference to its domestic factors - in particular national identity - and also with regards to Serbia's foreign factors, such as the Europeanization process and the nature of the international system. The overarching focus of the thesis is laid on the following puzzle: in spite of not attaining self-declared foreign policy goals and changing dynamics at the systemic level, Serbia's foreign policy appear to be stable over time. In each of the five publications comprising the thesis, a narrower aspect of this puzzle is addressed.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Hinz, author = {Hinz, Lieselotte}, title = {Die Rechtsfolgen eines fehlerhaften Massenentlassungsverfahrens : eine am Sinn und Zweck des Verfahrens orientierte und folglich verh{\"a}ltnism{\"a}ßige Anwendung der Unwirksamkeitsfolge}, volume = {2024}, publisher = {Nomos}, address = {Baden-Baden}, isbn = {978-3-7489-4365-5}, doi = {10.5771/9783748943655}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:101:1-2405242015169.078961835793}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {219 Seiten}, abstract = {In st{\"a}ndiger Rechtsprechung sanktioniert das Bundesarbeitsgericht fehlerhafte Massenentlassungsverfahren mit der Unwirksamkeit der Entlassungen, \S 134 BGB i. V. mit \S 17 KSchG. Die Arbeit untersucht anhand einer dreistufigen Pr{\"u}fung, ob und wie geschehene Fehler zu sanktionieren sind. 1) Fehler sind immer dann zu sanktionieren, wenn sie den Sinn und Zweck des Verfahrens tangieren, wenn sie also relevant sind. 2) Arbeitnehmer:innen k{\"o}nnen sich auf einen Fehler nur berufen, wenn sie von diesem betroffen sind. 3) Erscheint eine Sanktion im konkreten Einzelfall als unangemessen, ist eine Ausnahme vom Unwirksamkeitsverdikt zu gew{\"a}hren - andere, ggf. weniger weitreichende Rechtsfolgen kommen dann aber ebenfalls nicht in Betracht.}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Schmuderer2024, author = {Schmuderer, Sven}, title = {Gesellschaftliches Engagement und Partizipation in st{\"a}dtisch- und l{\"a}ndlich-digitalen R{\"a}umen - Eine sozialgeographische Fallstudie zur Beteiligung relevanter Interessensgruppen samt praktischen Handlungsempfehlungen zur Partizipation in kommunalen Projekten}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-14611}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {228 Seiten}, year = {2024}, abstract = {Sozialer Teilhabe und Partizipation wird viel Bedeutung und großes Potential zugeschrieben, zum Beispiel seitens der Europ{\"a}ischen Kommission und nationaler Beh{\"o}rden etwa in F{\"o}rderprogrammen, seitens den Vereinten Nationen etwa in den Zielen f{\"u}r nachhaltige Entwicklung der Agenda 2030 oder seitens des Deutschen Bundesministeriums f{\"u}r Bildung und Forschung etwa in der Hightech-Strategie 2025. Gleichzeitig bestehen beim Thema Partizipation aber Forschungsl{\"u}cken, insbesondere mit Blick auf digitale Formen der Partizipation. Letztere stehen erst am Beginn ihres Einsatzes, w{\"a}hrend die digitalen Medien sowohl die Alltagswelt der Menschen als auch die Planungsverfahren immer st{\"a}rker ber{\"u}hren. Diese Arbeit befasst sich deshalb mit Partizipationsprozessen zur Beteiligung von B{\"u}rgerinnen, B{\"u}rgern und anderen Akteuren/Interessensgruppen in kommunalen Projekten und damit, wie diese Partizipationsprozesse im Lichte von aktuellen, modernen M{\"o}glichkeiten digitaler Partizipation anwendungsorientiert gestaltet und sowohl in st{\"a}dtischen als auch l{\"a}ndlichen R{\"a}umen akteurs- und ergebnisorientiert analog und/oder digital umgesetzt werden k{\"o}nnen. Das methodische Vorgehen basiert auf einem vor allem qualitativ- und interaktiv-sozialwissenschaftlichen Methodenmix und erfolgt in drei Zyklen: (1) einer initialen Datensammlung mit Fokus auf einem kommunalen Partizipationsprojekt, (2) einer Datensammlung 2 mit einem Fokus auf minimalen Kontrast und {\"A}hnlichkeiten weiterhin im Rahmen des Partizipationsprojekts sowie (3) einer Datensammlung 3 mit einem Fokus auf st{\"a}rkeren Kontrast und Unterschiede hinsichtlich Aktivit{\"a}t, Alter oder Kultur der Akteure bzw. hinsichtlich des (eher) l{\"a}ndlichen bzw. st{\"a}dtischen Kontextes. Die verwendeten Erhebungsinstrumente (vor allem narrative und problemzentrierte Interviews, Befragungen, teilnehmende Beobachtungen, ein Schulprojekt und die Erhebung digitaler Partizipations- und Forschungsdaten) zeigen die Bedeutung der drei Aspekte Milieu, Akteure und Programm in der Planung, Gestaltung und Durchf{\"u}hrung von Partizipationsprozessen. Anhand dieser drei Gesichtspunkte ergibt sich zudem die Antwort auf die zentrale Forschungsfrage dieser Arbeit, wie Partizipationsprozesse in kommunalen Projekten gestaltet werden k{\"o}nnen, um digitale Formate sowie lokal-regionale Kontexte zu ber{\"u}cksichtigen, und welche Aspekte dabei relevant sind: (1) das analoge Milieu der konkreten (eher) l{\"a}ndlichen bzw. st{\"a}dtischen Kommune sowie das in diesem sozialen und emotionalen Betroffenheits-Raum vorhandene oder von den Verantwortlichen anreichernd eingesetzte digitale Partizipations-Milieu bilden insgesamt den Raum und beeinflussen die Atmosph{\"a}re des Raums, innerhalb dem sich der Partizipationsprozess und die einzelnen -formate je nach Projektphase an ggf. unterschiedlichen Veranstaltungsorten als mikrogeographische Milieus in unterschiedlicher Art und Weise realisieren; (2) die sich in verschiedener Weise in den Partizipationsprozess einbringenden Akteure/Interessensgruppen und deren (je nach Ausmaß der tats{\"a}chlichen oder emotionalen Betroffenheit ausgepr{\"a}gte) individuelle Motivation, beeinflussen die Erfordernisse an eine analoge und/oder digitale informative, dialogische und/oder diskursive Kommunikation sowie an eine auf Bildung, Begegnung, Kooperation und Verantwortung bauende analoge und/oder digitale Interaktion im konkreten Partizipationsprozess; (3) mit dem konkreten Programm des Partizipationsprozesses und den einzelnen analogen und/oder digitalen -formaten gestaltet sich ein (Partizipations-)Projekt in unterschiedlicher Auspr{\"a}gung milieuorientiert (mit der Definition und Analyse des Partizipations-Raums als Kern der Milieuorientierung und der Standortsuche als zus{\"a}tzlicher Aspekt bei standortbezogenen Projekten), akteursorientiert (auf den Umfang und den Grad der Einflussnahme-M{\"o}glichkeit der Akteure/Interessensgruppen von Nicht-Partizipation {\"u}ber Information und Mitsprache bis hin zu Zusammenarbeit und Mitbestimmung sowie Selbstbestimmung der Akteure blickend) sowie ergebnisorientiert (wirtschaftlich hinsichtlich Planung, Umsetzung, Entscheidung, Nachhaltung und Nachhaltigkeit). Die Bedeutung dieser Arbeit besteht zum einen darin, dass sie das theoretische und praktische Verst{\"a}ndnis von Partizipationsprozessen erweitert, indem sie die Fokussierung auf gesellschaftliche Interaktionen in st{\"a}dtisch- und l{\"a}ndlich-digitalen Kontexten einf{\"u}hrt, den es so bisher nicht gab, und damit auch die Action-Setting-Theorie von Peter Weichhart um digitale und regionale Anwendungsfelder erweitert. Die anwendungsorientierten Handlungsempfehlungen tragen zudem zur milieu-, akteurs- und programmsensiblen Umsetzung moderner M{\"o}glichkeiten analoger und/oder digitaler Partizipation bei. Schließlich er{\"o}ffnet diese Arbeit Ankn{\"u}pfungspunkte f{\"u}r k{\"u}nftige Forschungen - etwa in der Motivationspsychologie, der Kommunikations- und Politikwissenschaft, der Volkswirtschafts- oder der Betriebswirtschaftslehre sowie mit Blick auf andere r{\"a}umliche Maßst{\"a}be bis hin zu landes-, bundes- und europa-politischen (Partizipations-)Projekten.}, subject = {E-Partizipation}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Vogelsang2024, author = {Vogelsang, Irina}, title = {Ausstellungen und ihr Erfolg: (Kunst-)Geschichten befragen. Ausstellungspublika in Indonesien und Prozesse der Selektion, Rezeption und Aneignung am Beispiel der Ausstellung „Raden Saleh und der Beginn der modernen indonesischen Malerei"}, address = {Passau}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-14552}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {380 Seiten}, year = {2024}, abstract = {In der Dissertation «Ausstellungen und ihr Erfolg: (Kunst-)Geschichten befragen» wird ein Teilbereich der Bildungsforschung untersucht, n{\"a}mlich die informelle Bildung im internationalen Kontext. Die Arbeit kombiniert eine ausf{\"u}hrliche Analyse einer Ausstellung und deren Publikum und fokussiert sich dabei auf die Perspektive der Besucher*innen. Als Fallbeispiel dient die empirische Forschung zur kunsthistorischen Ausstellung «Raden Saleh und der Beginn der modernen indonesischen Malerei», die 2012 in der Nationalgalerie von Jakarta stattfand. Organisiert als kulturpolitisches Instrument vom Goethe-Institut Indonesien, stellte die Ausstellung eine bedeutende historische Pers{\"o}nlichkeit Indonesiens, Raden Saleh, in den Mittelpunkt. Besonders bemerkenswert war, dass seine Werke erstmals retrospektiv mit Originalgem{\"a}lden in seiner Heimat gezeigt wurden. Die Ausstellung f{\"u}hrte neue Narrative, neu Ausstellungs- und Vermittlungskonzepte ein und weckte großes Interesse beim Publikum, was zu einem außerordentlichen Erfolg f{\"u}hrte. Basierend auf Konzepten der kritischen Museologie, (Kunst-)Soziologie und qualitativen Medienforschung untersucht die Arbeit die Ursachen und kurz- sowie langfristigen Effekte des Ausstellungserfolgs. Durch die Erforschung der bisher wenig beachteten Sph{\"a}re der Kunstdistribution und informellen Bildung in Indonesien leistet die Arbeit einen wichtigen Beitrag zur Grundlagenforschung der S{\"u}dostasienwissenschaften. Gleichzeitig adressiert sie verschiedene Desiderate in der Publikumsforschung und liefert Erkenntnisse f{\"u}r eine kritische Ausstellungspraxis auf internationaler B{\"u}hne. Unter der Ber{\"u}cksichtigung von vielf{\"a}ltigen Kontexten der Ausstellungsbesucher (Sozio-kulturell, physisch, pers{\"o}nlich) arbeitet die qualitative sowie quantitative Analyse die massgeblichen Erfolgsfaktoren der Ausstellung heraus. Die Besucherforschung zeigte, dass vor allem die urbane Mittelklasse die Ausstellung aufsuchte. Besucher_innen kamen in die Ausstellung mit Vorwissen zu Raden Saleh in Form von Legenden. Dieses Vorwissen verhandelten sie in der Ausstellung neu und passten es an ihre pers{\"o}nlichen Bed{\"u}rfnisse an. Gleichzeitig generierte sich das Interesse aus bis dato fehlenden Ganzk{\"o}rpererfahrungen mit historischen Zeitzeugnissen zu Raden Saleh. Der Ausstellungserfolg war nicht nur auf den richtigen Ort, sondern auf den gut gew{\"a}hlten Zeitpunkt zur{\"u}ckf{\"u}hren. Die stattfindenden Feierlichkeiten zu Raden Salehs Geburtstag im Rahmen einer Erinnerungspolitik und diverse stattfindende Diskurse der Kunstwelt fanden in der Ausstellung die richtige Plattform, um Narrative zu Kunst und Geschichte zu verhandeln. Die Analyse der Selektions- und Rezeptionspraktiken der Besuchwer_innen machten die wichtigsten Erfolgsfaktoren der Ausstellung deutlich: ihre F{\"a}higkeit an die oben genannten Kontexte der Besucher_innen anzukn{\"u}pfen oder diese f{\"u}r sich zu nutzen. Die Arbeit schließt mit Ergebnissen aus der Aneignungs- und Wirkungsforschung und deren Bewertung ab. Diese zeigen deutlich, dass die Wahrnehmung von Raden Saleh heute maßgeblich durch die Ausstellung «Raden Saleh und der Beginn der modernen indonesischen Malerei» beeinflusst wurde und verdeutlicht damit die Bedeutung und Verantwortung der informellen Lernorte wie Ausstellungen - insbesondere in postkolonialen Kontexten.}, subject = {Rezeptionsforschung}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Donner2024, author = {Donner, Eva Katharina}, title = {4 Essays on Sustainable Development and Organizations' Response to Stakeholder's Expectations}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-14516}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {181 Seiten}, year = {2024}, abstract = {As integral part of the society, environment, and economy, the organization's survival and growth depend on legitimacy which reflects the social support and acceptance of its stakeholders, the institutions and individuals it interacts with. Organizations interact with internal and external stakeholder groups which not necessarily have the same legitimacy expectations. Due to several reasons, such as the adoption of new laws or the invention of new technologies, stakeholders' expectations of legitimate actions can change in the course of time. Thus, to respond to changing stakeholder's expectations, as integral part of a changing environment, is complex. The main objective of this dissertation is to answer the research question: "How do organizations respond to changing stakeholder's expectations in context of sustainable development?". Building on two empirical settings with four essays, this dissertation provides insights into organizations' responses as reaction to changing stakeholder expectations with regard to sustainable development. In particular, it takes a closer look on the interplay between internal stakeholders, such as employees, and external stakeholders, such as politics or customers. The first essay summarizes the organizational factors for the implementation of a research data management (RDM) system within higher education institutes (HEI) and how they interact with each other. Based on Leavitt's (1965) classical model of organizational change, the essay provides an overview about the interrelation between the individual components that make up an RDM system. The second essay investigates how early career researchers within HEI make use of different respond strategies to the state, market, professional, and community logic in context of RDM. It provides insights how employees deal with changing environmental conditions and the organization's response to them. The third essay analyses the shift from voluntary to mandatory sustainability reporting and demonstrates different strategies organizations adopt to respond to it. The fourth essay incorporates the findings of the third essay and investigates which factors influence the organization's strategy to respond. It focuses on the interface between the top management team and the chief executive officer. This dissertation makes at least two overall contributions to management and organization studies research. First, it emphasizes the role of different stakeholder groups and their impact on the organizations' activities. Second, this dissertation shows the value of connecting different theoretical approaches such as institutional logics, upper echelon theory, and organizational transparency research in context of organizational legitimacy and demonstrates that a nuanced view is necessary to understand the concept of organizational legitimacy. This cumulative dissertation is structured as follows. Part A is an introduction to the study organizational legitimacy. Part B contains the four essays.}, subject = {Strategisches Management}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Puellen2024, author = {P{\"u}llen, Dominik}, title = {Holistic Security Engineering for Software-Defined Vehicles}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-14497}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {XXIII, 161 Seiten}, year = {2024}, abstract = {With the increasing use of digital technologies in the automotive sector, the traditional automobile is undergoing a structural transformation, requiring new technologies and enabling innovative mobility concepts. In particular, the ability to drive automatically or even fully autonomously, update control software, and remain connected to the environment allows attackers to infiltrate highly critical vehicle systems and take control without adequate protection. Once not only individual vehicles but entire fleets are dominated by software, cyberattacks could disrupt a significant portion of the infrastructure and expose passengers to substantial risks. This work follows a holistic approach to protecting highly automated software-defined vehicles from cyberattacks by designing and implementing security concepts in the main phases of a vehicle's lifecycle. We use SAE level 4 prototype vehicles to evaluate our proposed techniques. We start with a systematic security requirement analysis using the ISA-62443 standard series, demonstrating how threats can be identified in a collaborative, hierarchical process and how the resulting security risks impact the software and hardware architecture of a self-driving vehicle. We show how this analysis process results in concrete requirements whose consideration reduces the overall security risk to a tolerable level. Subsequently, we develop technical solutions for selected requirements. We begin by securing the CAN and FlexRay legacy protocols, which we foresee being used in specific areas of SDV in a transitional period despite technological changes. To enable vehicle-wide security management, we address the management and distribution of cryptographic keys within such networks, mainly focusing on resource-constrained devices. We propose using lightweight implicit certificates for deriving cryptographic group keys that can be used in CAN networks. Additionally, we demonstrate how the slot-based frame structure of the FlexRay protocol allows for efficient "multi-slot" authentication, for which we calculate cryptographic keys using hash-based key chains. SDV use Ethernet-based communication protocols and custom middleware stacks to transmit large amounts of data in real-time. We develop a three-stage security process for the novel ASOA, which enables the development and central orchestration of system-agnostic functional software components on embedded systems and HPC platforms. After the central specification of the security architecture at the data flow level, security tokens are automatically calculated and distributed for runtime protection of the service-oriented, DDS-based data transmission. Our process ensures the strict separation of function and system knowledge, allowing for cost-effective and adaptable security architecture management. The evaluation in four self-driving, software-defined vehicles demonstrates an average runtime overhead of approximately 5.71\%. As the initial risk analysis and actual cyberattacks have shown, protective measures against the compromise of control units must be taken alongside communication security. To address this, we develop a method for verifying and validating the software integrity of control units. A governmental third party confirms a measurement through a digital certificate, proving the examined vehicle's trustworthiness and suitability for participation in automated traffic. In the final step of this work, we present an assessment scheme that allows software-defined vehicles to evaluate security incidents during operation in terms of their maximum expected damage and initiate appropriate countermeasures. We follow the ISO/SAE 21434 standard and model attack paths using a graph representing dependencies among internal vehicle assets to account for the propagation effects of cyberattacks. The assessment of a security incident considers not only the probability of individual attack paths but also the vehicle context. Our practical evaluation demonstrates that we can detect, report, and assess security incidents below the human reaction time in the earlier mentioned prototype vehicles.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Klumpp2024, author = {Klumpp, Lorenz}, title = {Populismus und Medien - Visuelle Darstellungen politischer Akteure auf Magazincovern}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-14349}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {128 Seiten}, year = {2024}, abstract = {Bislang beschr{\"a}nkte sich die inhaltsanalytische Populismusforschung {\"u}berwiegend auf textuelle Botschaften, wie etwa Parteiprogramme, Zeitungsartikel oder Online Foren. Erst seit wenigen Jahren werden zunehmend auch visuell vermittelte Botschaften im Zusammenhang mit Populismus Gegenstand politik- und kommunikationswissenschaftlicher Untersuchung. Durch eine Verkn{\"u}pfung des Ansatzes der Visuellen Politik mit einer Konzeptualisierung von Populismus als Kommunikationsph{\"a}nomen versteht sich die vorliegende Dissertation als Beitrag zur Erforschung einer Visuellen Politik des Populismus (Moffitt 2022). Empirisch nimmt der Autor die Medienebene in den Fokus und konzentriert sich hierbei auf die ikonographisch-ikonologische Analyse von Magazincovern. So werden einerseits visuelle Darstellungen populistischer Akteure auf den Titelseiten des Nachrichtenmagazins Der Spiegel (Klumpp 2020, 2022) sowie andererseits visuelle Darstellungen des politischen Personals insgesamt auf Covern von Der Spiegel und Compact mittels Bildtypenanalyse (Klumpp 2023) untersucht.}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Kuhn2024, author = {Kuhn, Esther}, title = {Zur Dogmatik der Zahlungsverbote}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-14159}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, year = {2024}, abstract = {Zielsetzung der vorliegenden Arbeit war es, die Dogmatik der Zahlungsverbote endg{\"u}ltig herauszuarbeiten. Sp{\"a}testens seit Inkrafttreten des \S 15b InsO durch das SanInsFOG kann nicht mehr geleugnet werden, dass es sich bei der Haftung f{\"u}r einen Verstoß gegen das Zahlungsverbot im Rahmen der Insolvenzverschleppungshaftung um eine schadensrechtliche Anspruchsgrundlage handeln muss.}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Lachat2024, author = {Lachat, Paul}, title = {Detecting Inference Attacks Involving Sensor Data}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-14149}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {xiii, 141 Seiten}, year = {2024}, abstract = {The collection of personal information by organizations has become increasingly essential for social interactions. Nevertheless, according to the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), the organizations have to protect collected data. Access Control (AC) mechanisms are traditionally used to secure information systems against unauthorized access to sensitive data. The increased availability of personal sensor data, thanks to IoT-oriented applications, motivates new services to offer insights about individuals. Consequently, data mining algorithms have been proposed to infer personal insights from collected sensor data. Although they can be used for genuine purposes, attackers can leverage those outcomes, combining them with other type of data, and further breaching individuals' privacy. Thus, bypassing AC mechanisms thanks to such insights is a concrete problem. We propose an inference detection system based on the analysis of queries issued on a sensor database. The knowledge obtained through these queries, and the inference channels corresponding to the use of data mining algorithms on sensor data to infer individual information, are described using Raw sensor data based Inference ChannEl Model (RICE-M). The detection is carried out by RICE-M based inference detection System (RICE-Sy). RICE-Sy considers at the time of the query, the knowledge that a user obtains via a new query and has obtained via his query history, and determines whether this is sufficient to allow that user to operate a channel. Thus, privacy protection systems can take advantage of the inferences detected by RICE-Sy, taking into account individuals' information obtained by the attackers via a database of sensors, to further protect these individuals.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Le2022, author = {Le, Mirjam}, title = {The Peri-urban City: Cargo Cult Urbanism, Porosity and an Emerging Urban Citizenship in Vietnamese Secondary Cities}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-14097}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {xiii, 241 Seiten}, year = {2022}, abstract = {The impact of urban development on local residents in the urban periphery oscillates between processes of empowerment and processes of marginalization as well as between state-controlled order and decentralized self-organization. Consequently local authorities, including urban planners and local residents need to negotiate their respective roles in the production and usage of urban space defined by transition, transformation and ambiguity. Therefore, this work examines the underlying patterns, interactions and structures which define the negotiation of state-society relations in the framework of a porous peri-urban landscape in Vietnam's secondary cities. In Chapter 1, peri-urban areas are defined as space of transformation where pattern of rural land use are intertwined with pattern of urban land use to create an urban-rural interface with blurred boundaries. The main characteristic of the spatial pattern in Tam Kỳ and Bu{\^o}n Ma Thuột is rooted urban porosity leading to the spatial intertwining of rural, peri-urban and urban spaces. The emerging urban landscape can be defined as peri-urban city. Three main themes define this peri-urban city beyond porosity: (1) processes of transformation creating the peri-urban city, (2) networks of power and control as means to adapt to these transformations and (3) mobility as prerequisite for ability to benefit from the changing landscape in peri-urban cities. Chapter 2 describes how state authorities, urban planners and private investors at the local level in Tam Kỳ and Bu{\^o}n Ma Thuột use porous space to reproduce the city based on their aspirations. This leads to a cargo cult urbanism, where urban planning is rooted in future aspirations for the city. Plans and construction efforts reference the image of a modern urban future and produce the image of a city, which does not exists in the real urban space of Tam Kỳ and Bu{\^o}n Ma Thuột. In the meantime, practices based in peri-urban space are often contradictory to the official aspirations of local state authorities Chapter 3 explores this emerging divergence between the aspired urban space by the state and the reality of urban space rooted in material and social porosity. Traditional, newly accessible and environmental porosity provide an array of accessible space which transforms the peri-urban city into a social arena of encounters and interaction. Consequently, porosity enables local residents to maintain urban space as commons. This counters the push towards the privatization of urban space by state and private actors and creates multiple aspirations for the urban future. Rooted in urban space as commons, porosity enables the usage of peri-urban space as spaces of resistance as discussed in Chapter 4. Mobility and interaction are means of reproduction in the porous ambiguity of urban materiality but also become means of everyday resistance. The emerging spatialities of emancipation provide opportunities for an emerging urban citizenship. Urban materiality and urban citizenship have a mutually constitutive relationship.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Bermeitinger2024, author = {Bermeitinger, Bernhard}, title = {Investigating a Second-Order Optimization Strategy for Neural Networks}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-14087}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {xv, 59 Seiten}, year = {2024}, abstract = {In summary, this cumulative dissertation investigates the application of the conjugate gradient method CG for the optimization of artificial neural networks (NNs) and compares this method with common first-order optimization methods, especially the stochastic gradient descent (SGD). The presented research results show that CG can effectively optimize both small and very large networks. However, the default machine precision of 32 bits can lead to problems. The best results are only achieved in 64-bits computations. The research also emphasizes the importance of the initialization of the NNs' trainable parameters and shows that an initialization using singular value decomposition (SVD) leads to drastically lower error values. Surprisingly, shallow but wide NNs, both in Transformer and CNN architectures, often perform better than their deeper counterparts. Overall, the research results recommend a re-evaluation of the previous preference for extremely deep NNs and emphasize the potential of CG as an optimization method.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Schaich2023, author = {Schaich, Marie-Katrin}, title = {Zul{\"a}ssigkeit und Grenzen der Projektbefristung}, publisher = {Duncker \& Humblot}, address = {Berlin}, isbn = {978-3-428-59003-2}, doi = {10.3790/978-3-428-59003-2}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:101:1-2023122219103461828092}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {145 Seiten}, year = {2023}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Postel2024, author = {Postel, Lea}, title = {In Data We Trust: Three Essays on Consumers' Trust-Based Decision-Making Strategies in Privacy-Relevant Online Contexts}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-14021}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {XIV, 145 Seiten}, year = {2024}, abstract = {Technological advancements and new legal requirements are continuously changing the online data disclosure landscape in terms of both, the quantity and quality of data that firms can acquire. Nowadays, consumers are required to disclose personal data online multiple times a day and in a variety of different contexts, such as creating user profiles, online payment or using location-based services. Despite consumers' increasing online privacy concerns, firms rely ever more strongly on consumer data that they convert into a competitive advantage through personalized product recommendations and targeted advertising. In an effort to encourage consumer data disclosure, many firms have focused on building trust as a way to counterbalance privacy concerns and mitigate risk perceptions. Correspondingly, marketing literature has continued to examine the interplay of trust and consumer privacy concerns. While the extant research has considerably advanced our understanding of the role of trust in privacy-related decision-making, the majority of studies has mainly focused on single-stage, dyadic disclosure settings and cognitive decision-making processes. Against this background, the overarching goal of this thesis is to shed light on under-researched data disclosure contexts involving trust and to explore additional facets of the underlying decision-making processes. For example, considering pre- and post-disclosure stages when evaluating consumers' data disclosure decisions allows for a more holistic picture of the decision-making process. Similarly, social media and sharing economy settings challenge the traditional assumption of purely dyadic consumer-firm data disclosure, thus extending traditional conceptualizations of trust. Across three independent essays, this thesis addresses the overarching research question of how the peculiarities of multi-stage and multi-actor settings shape consumers' trust-based decision-making strategies.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Duffourc2023, author = {Duffourc, Mindy}, title = {Liability for Negligent Healthcare Clinical Risk Management in the United States and Germany}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-13859}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {xvi, 141 Seiten}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Systems-focused error prevention efforts are internationally recognized in the healthcare industry, and industry efforts to identify and correct organizational defects through the process of CRM are well established in the U.S. and Germany. However, in both countries, there is no clear corresponding liability for healthcare organizations who fail to engage in systems-based learning through the process of clinical risk management (CRM). Although both jurisdictions do recognize organization-based theories of liability, liability for negligent CRM has not been explicitly recognized by courts in either jurisdiction to date. German legal scholars, recognizing this gap in liability for healthcare organizations, have written in support of finding liability for negligent CRM under existing tort law; however, there is no corresponding discussion in the American legal literature. This dissertation fills that gap with a comparative analysis of medical negligence law in the U.S. and Germany through the international lens of modern medical error prevention science and policy to articulate a legal basis and sketch the evidentiary framework for tort liability based on negligent CRM.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Fink2023, author = {Fink, Simon Dominik}, title = {Constrained Planarity Algorithms in Theory and Practice}, doi = {10.15475/cpatp.2024}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-13817}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {216 Seiten}, year = {2023}, abstract = {In the constrained planarity setting, we ask whether a graph admits a crossing-free drawing that additionally satisfies a given set of constraints. These constraints are often derived from very natural problems; prominent examples are Level Planarity, where vertices have to lie on given horizontal lines indicating a hierarchy, Partially Embedded Planarity, where we extend a given drawing without modifying already-drawn parts, and Clustered Planarity, where we additionally draw the boundaries of clusters which recursively group the vertices in a crossing-free manner. In the last years, the family of constrained planarity problems received a lot of attention in the field of graph drawing. Efficient algorithms were discovered for many of them, while a few others turned out to be NP-complete. In contrast to the extensive theoretical considerations and the direct motivation by applications, only very few of the found algorithms have been implemented and evaluated in practice. The goal of this thesis is to advance the research on both theoretical as well as practical aspects of constrained planarity. On the theoretical side, we consider two types of constrained planarity problems. The first type are problems that individually constrain the rotations of vertices, that is they restrict the counter-clockwise cyclic orders of the edges incident to vertices. We give a simple linear-time algorithm for the problem Partially Embedded Planarity, which also generalizes to further constrained planarity variants of this type. The second type of constrained planarity problem concerns more involved planarity variants that come down to the question whether there are embeddings of one or multiple graphs such that the rotations of certain vertices are in sync in a certain way. Clustered Planarity and a variant of the Simultaneous Embedding with Fixed Edges Problem (Connected SEFE-2) are well-known problems of this type. Both are generalized by our Synchronized Planarity problem, for which we give a quadratic algorithm. Through reductions from various other problems, we provide a unified modelling framework for almost all known efficiently solvable constrained planarity variants that also directly provides a quadratic-time solution to all of them. For both our algorithms, a key ingredient for reaching an efficient solution is the usage of the right data structure for the problem at hand. In this case, these data structures are the SPQR-tree and the PC-tree, which describe planar embedding possibilities from a global and a local perspective, respectively. More specifically, PC-trees can be used to locally describe the possible cyclic orders of edges around vertices in all planar embeddings of a graph. This makes it a key component for our algorithms, as it allows us to test planarity while also respecting further constraints, and to communicate constraints arising from the surrounding graph structure between vertices with synchronized rotation. Bridging over to the practical side, we present the first correct implementation of PC-trees. We also describe further improvements, which allow us to outperform all implementations of alternative data structures (out of which we only found very few to be fully correct) by at least a factor of 4. We show that this yields a simple and competitive planarity test that can also yield an embedding to certify planarity. We also use our PC-tree implementation to implement our quadratic algorithm for solving Synchronized Planarity. Here, we show that our algorithm greatly outperforms previous attempts at solving related problems like Clustered Planarity in practice. We also engineer its running time and show how degrees of freedom in the theoretical algorithm can be leveraged to yield an up to tenfold speed-up in practice.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Mussotter2023, author = {Mußotter, Marlene}, title = {On nation, homeland, and democracy: Toward a novel three-factor measurement model for nationalism and patriotism}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-13781}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {100, ca. 100 ungez{\"a}hlte Seiten}, year = {2023}, abstract = {The nationalism-patriotism distinction is one of the most influential distinctions in the field of political psychology. While frequently used, the distinction suffers from a number of shortcomings that have hitherto been devoted little attention to. This dissertation aims to contribute to fill this research gap by systematically addressing these pitfalls. Notably, it does not abandon the binary distinction as such, but aims to further refine it. Thoroughly revisiting the nationalism-patriotism distinction, it synthesises the field's two predominant research traditions, i.e. the work of Kosterman and Feshbach (1989) in the U.S. and the one of Blank and Schmidt (2003) in Germany, that have not been brought into dialogue. In so doing, and engaging with research on attachment, it calls for a more nuanced triad of attachments: nationalism, that revolves around the nation; patriotism, that refers to the homeland; and democratic patriotism with democracy as its object of attachment. In line with this triad, it introduces a novel three-factor measurement model that has been validated in three studies in Germany. Overall, the dissertation underlines the need to approach ambiguous and complex concepts such as nationalism and patriotism in a more theoretically consistent way before operationalizing them in a rigorous manner.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Zimmermann2023, author = {Zimmermann, Johanna Anita}, title = {Taking the First Step on the Consumer Privacy Journey - Three Essays on Consumers' Privacy-Related Decision-Making}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-13761}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {IX, 183 Seiten}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Data has become a necessary resource for firm operations in the modern digital world, explaining their growing data gathering efforts. Due to this development, consumers are confronted with decisions to disclose personal data on a daily basis, and have become increasingly intentional about data sharing. While this reluctance to disclose personal data poses challenges for firms, at the same time, it also creates new opportunities for improving privacy-related interactions with customers. This dissertation advocates for a more holistic perspective on consumers' privacy-related decision-making and introduces the consumer privacy journey consisting of three subsequent phases: pre data disclosure, data disclosure, post data disclosure. In three independent essays, I stress the importance of investigating data requests (i.e., the first step of this journey) as they represent a largely neglected, yet, potentially powerful means to influence consumers' decision-making and decision-evaluation processes. Based on dual-processing models of decision-making, this dissertation focuses on both consumers' cognitive and affective evaluations of privacy-related information: First, Essay 1 offers novel conceptualizations and operationalizations of consumers' perceived behavioral control over personal data (i.e., cognitive processing) in the context of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based data disclosure processes. Next, Essay 2 examines consumers' cognitive and affective processing of a data request that entails relevance arguments as well as relevance-illustrating game elements. Finally, Essay 3 categorizes affective cues that trigger consumers' affective processing of a data request and proposes that such cues need to fit with a specific data disclosure situation to foster long-term decision satisfaction. Collectively, my findings provide research and practice with new insights into consumers' privacy perceptions and behaviors, which are particularly valuable in the context of complex, new (technology-enabled) data disclosure situations.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Klepikova2024, author = {Klepikova, Tatiana}, title = {Crossing Soviet Thresholds: Privacy, Literature, and Politics in Late Soviet Russia}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-13771}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {vii, 163 Seiten}, year = {2024}, abstract = {My dissertation examines literary mythologies of privacy in the authoritarian Russia of 1953-1985. This era was marked by an expansion of "non-state spheres," or areas of life of which the Communist state increasingly released its control after Joseph Stalin's death in 1953. Political elites, architects, and designers, as well as ordinary citizens co-constructed and explored the rising spheres through the languages of their respective fields—by producing regulations and laws, designing and erecting new types of buildings, developing new and modernizing already familiar everyday objects as well as devising new ways of integrating these objects into private and public spaces. Alongside these voices, transformations in the cultural sphere in general, and literature in particular, were most vocal. The late Soviet era witnessed the dissolution of the ossified ideology of socialist realism that focused on the glorification of the "new Soviet man" and had held culture in its tight grips since the 1930s. Starting from the 1950s, writers increasingly focused on portraying areas of life that lay beyond one's public commitments and experimented with new meanings, codes, and forms to give shape to novel spheres of experience of the "late Soviet man" that can be subsumed under the concept of the "private sphere." The analytical framework of my dissertation is built around the journey to understand the mechanisms and architecture that powered the imagination of models of distancing oneself from the state and the society at large—scenarios of privacy, as we may call them today. I examine Russian prose and drama of the 1950s-1980s as a laboratory for the ideas of privacy, which was increasingly sought in the society disillusioned by the Communist doctrine and thus progressively alienating from active participation in the public sphere. I analyze the meanings that writers incorporated into new and old forms of domesticity—private flats that became progressively widespread throughout the 1950s-1980s, rooms in communal apartments, individual houses—to determine the spectrum of concepts that nurtured the idea of privacy in the late Soviet literary imagination. I also examine representations of reciprocal paradigms of relations between subjects from which the state and society at large were increasingly excluded. In the examples that I analyze, forms of private withdrawals variate from establishing control over liminal spaces or escaping into the world of feelings and emotions and building a connection to a person or space (significant for the characters for private rather than public reasons) to experimenting with language and pursuing one's idiolect despite the ubiquitous "officialese," as well as living in temporalities asynchronous with the public time. Beyond revealing the visions of different, non-state existences in the late Soviet era, my text also advocates examining the role of official literature as a platform for subversion and change that was no less important in an authoritarian state than dissident literature. I see officially published texts as a cultural subaltern who defies the state of affairs and slowly but firmly turns the "state sphere" into a public one by pushing its own agenda through publications that test and gain ground for bolder visions of Soviet life that are not predicated on the commitment to the public sphere. With individual mechanisms of power assertion employed by the state or literature in the late Soviet era well-researched, the framework is still missing that would capture the shifts of borders between the private and public spheres under the influence of these actors. In devising such framework, I build upon sociological theories of disattendability and civil inattention that Erving Goffman conceived to describe conventions of individual behavior and social interaction in public. Extending these theories toward the studies of literary politics, I argue that by envisioning scenarios of a private retreat and bringing them into officially published editions, literature normalized privacy as a late Soviet imaginary and, therefore, continuously heightened its own disattendability, thereby expanding the borders of the private sphere. On the side of the state, the border was defined by the triggers of disturbance of civil inattention: privacy was conceded in return for disattendability. Under such conditions, literature became a bizarre "private kitchen" that performed private and public functions simultaneously—similar to the kitchens in newly-built individual apartments that were popular loci of socialization in the late Soviet era. It turned into a place where one can escape—it became one of the "niches of privacy" where it was possible to discuss and negotiate the world, in which the society lived or to which it should strive. At the same time, it assumed the role of a surrogate for the public sphere within the "state" sphere by pushing its own agenda through the publication of literary texts that sought to imagine a person rather than a cog in the Communist machine and thus transformed socialist realism into a literary current "with a human face." In my research, privacy, literature, and politics are bound together to reveal a vibrant spectacle of the continuous interaction between the state, cultural elites, and the citizens, in which thresholds are erected and crossed incessantly. Fictional private sites were battlefields for the production and contestation of ideologies, and the exposure of these literary wars to the public eye played a fundamental role in shifting the borders between the private and the public spheres in an authoritarian late Soviet Russia. The patterns of relations between the state and culture that I uncover in my dissertation resonate in neo-authoritarian twenty-first-century Russia, making privacy an important lens for our insight into the role of culture in rising authoritarian and failing democratic systems across the globe.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Danner2023, author = {Danner, Dominik}, title = {Towards Quality of Service and Fairness in Smart Grid Applications}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-13731}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {xx, 172 Seiten}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Due to the increasing amount of distributed renewable energy generation and the emerging high demand at consumer connection points, e. g., electric vehicles, the power distribution grid will reach its capacity limit at peak load times if it is not expensively enhanced. Alternatively, smart flexibility management that controls user assets can help to better utilize the existing power grid infrastructure for example by sharing available grid capacity among connected electric vehicles or by disaggregating flexibility requests to hybrid photovoltaic battery energy storage systems in households. Besides maintaining an acceptable state of the power distribution grid, these smart grid applications also need to ensure a certain quality of service and provide fairness between the individual participants, both of which are not extensively discussed in the literature. This thesis investigates two smart grid applications, namely electric vehicle charging-as-a-service and flexibility-provision-as-a-service from distributed energy storage systems in private households. The electric vehicle charging service allocation is modeled with distributed queuing-based allocation mechanisms which are compared to new probabilistic algorithms. Both integrate user constraints (arrival time, departure time, and energy required) to manage the quality of service and fairness. In the queuing-based allocation mechanisms, electric vehicle charging requests are packetized into logical charging current packets, representing the smallest controllable size of the charging process. These packets are queued at hierarchically distributed schedulers, which allocate the available charging capacity using the time and frequency division multiplexing technique known from the networking domain. This allows multiple electric vehicles to be charged simultaneously with variable charging currents. To achieve high quality of service and fairness among electric vehicle charging processes, dynamic weights are introduced into a weighted fair queuing scheduler that considers electric vehicle departure time and required energy for prioritization. The distributed probabilistic algorithms are inspired by medium access protocols from computer networking, such as binary exponential backoff, and control the quality of service and fairness by adjusting sampling windows and waiting periods based on user requirements. The second smart grid application under investigation aims to provide flexibility provision-as-a-service that disaggregates power flexibility requests to distributed battery energy storage systems in private households. Commonly, the main purpose of stationary energy storage is to store energy from a local photovoltaic system for later use, e. g., for overnight charging of an electric vehicle. This is optimized locally by a home energy management system, which also allows the scheduling of external flexibility requests defined by the deviation from the optimal power profile at the grid connection point, for example, to perform peak shaving at the transformer. This thesis discusses a linear heuristic and a meta heuristic to disaggregate a flexibility request to the single participating energy management systems that are grouped into a flexibility pool. Thereby, the linear heuristic iteratively assigns portions of the power flexibility to the most appropriate energy management system for one time slot after another, minimizing the total flexibility cost or maximizing the probability of flexibility delivery. In addition, a multi-objective genetic algorithm is proposed that also takes into account power grid aspects, quality of service, and fairness among par-ticipating households. The genetic operators are tailored to the flexibility disaggregation search space, taking into account flexibility and energy management system constraints, and enable power-optimized buffering of fitness values. Both smart grid applications are validated on a realistic power distribution grid with real driving patterns and energy profiles for photovoltaic generation and household consumption. The results of all proposed algorithms are analyzed with respect to a set of newly defined metrics on quality of service, fairness, efficiency, and utilization of the power distribution grid. One of the main findings is that none of the tested algorithms outperforms the others in all quality of service metrics, however, integration of user expectations improves the service quality compared to simpler approaches. Furthermore, smart grid control that incorporates users and their flexibility allows the integration of high-load applications such as electric vehicle charging and flexibility aggregation from distributed energy storage systems into the existing electricity distribution infrastructure. However, there is a trade-off between power grid aspects, e. g., grid losses and voltage values, and the quality of service provided. Whenever active user interaction is required, means of controlling the quality of service of users' smart grid applications are necessary to ensure user satisfaction with the services provided.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Welearegai2023, author = {Welearegai, Gebrehiwet Biyane}, title = {Precise Detection of Injection Attacks in Real-world Applications}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-12926}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {xvi, 120 Seiten}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Code injection attacks like the one used in the high-profile 2017 Equifax breach, have become increasingly common, ranking at the top of OWASP's list of critical web application vulnerabilities. The injection attacks can also target embedded applications running on processors like ARM and Xtensa by exploiting memory bugs and maliciously altering the program's behavior or even taking full control over a system. Especially, ARM's support of low power consumption without sacrificing performance is leading the industry to shift towards ARM processors, which advances the attention of injection attacks as well. In this thesis, we are considering web applications and embedded applications (running on ARM and Xtensa processors) as the target of injection attacks. To detect injection attacks in web applications, taint analysis is mostly proposed but the precision, scalability, and runtime overhead of the detection depend on the analysis types (e.g., static vs dynamic, sound vs unsound). Moreover, in the existing dynamic taint tracking approach for Java- based applications, even the most performant can impose a slowdown of at least 10-20\% and often far more. On the other hand, considering the embedded applications, while some initial research has tried to detect injection attacks (i.e., ROP and JOP) on ARM, they suffer from high performance or storage overhead. Besides, the Xtensa has been neglected though used in most firmware-based embedded WiFi home automation devices. This thesis aims to provide novel approaches to precisely detect injection attacks on both the web and embedded applications. To that end, we evaluate JavaScript static analysis frameworks to evaluate the security of a hybrid app (JS \& native) from an industrial partner, provide RIVULET - a tool that precisely detects injection attacks in Java-based real-world applications, and investigate injection attacks detection on ARM and Xtensa platforms using hardware performance counters (HPCs) and machine learning (ML) techniques. To evaluate the security of the hybrid application, we initially compare the precision, scalability, and code coverage of two widely-used static analysis frameworks—WALA and SAFE. The result of our comparison shows that SAFE provides higher precision and better code coverage at the cost of somewhat lower scalability. Based on these results, we analyze the data flows of the hybrid app via taint analysis by extending the SAFE's taint analysis and detected a potential for injection attacks of the hybrid application. Similarly, to detect injection attacks in Java-based applications, we provide Rivulet which monitors the execution of developer-written functional tests using dynamic taint tracking. Rivulet uses a white-box test generation technique to re-purpose those functional tests to check if any vulnerable flow could be exploited. We compared Rivulet to the state-of-the-art static vulnerability detector Julia on benchmarks and Rivulet outperformed Julia in both false positives and false negatives. We also used Rivulet to detect new vulnerabilities. Moreover, for applications running on ARM and Xtensa platforms, we investigate ROP1 attack detection by combining HPCs and ML techniques. We collect data exploiting real- world vulnerable applications and small benchmarks to train the ML. For ROP attack detection on ARM, we also implement an online monitor which labels a program's execution as benign or under attack and stops its execution once the latter is detected. Evaluating our ROP attack detection approach on ARM provides a detection accuracy of 92\% for the offline training and 75\% for the online monitoring. Similarly, our ROP attack detection on the firmware-only Xtensa processor provides an overall average detection accuracy of 79\%. Last but not least, this thesis shows how relevant taint analysis is to precisely detect injection attacks on web applications and the power of HPC combined with machine learning in the control flow injection attacks detection on ARM and Xtensa platforms.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Li2023, author = {Li, Yuze}, title = {Das System des Leistungsst{\"o}rungsrechts - eine vergleichende Studie zum deutschen und chinesischen Recht}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-13712}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {XVI, 296 Seiten}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Das chinesische Zivilgesetzbuch wurde am 28. Mai 2020 verk{\"u}ndet, mit vielen {\"A}nderungen gegen{\"u}ber der vorherigen Gesetzgebung. In diesem Zusammenhang ist das Leistungsst{\"o}rungsrecht, das ein Kerngebiet des Schuldrechts ist, neu zu erfassen. Dies soll insbesondere anhand des deutschen Leistungsst{\"o}rungsrechts und eines Vergleichs zwischen beiden geschehen. Die vorliegende Arbeit befasst sich daher mit einer Reihe grundlegender Fragen des chinesischen Leistungsst{\"o}rungsrechts. So kann man sich {\"u}ber die Herkunft des chinesischen Vertragsrechts, seinen gegenw{\"a}rtigen Stand, das rechtliche Regelsystem sowie die einschl{\"a}gige Behandlung in der Rechtsprechung informieren.}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Miketta2023, author = {Miketta, Yvonne}, title = {Frame-Semantik und Plastikw{\"o}rter: Lexikologische Untersuchungen zur sprachlichen Signifikanz in der Politik des 21. Jahrhunderts}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-12881}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {390 Seiten}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Was m{\"o}chten Politikerinnen und Politiker mit dem Gesagten wirklich ausdr{\"u}cken? Welchen spezifischen Zweck erf{\"u}llen bestimmte Worte im politischen Kontext? In dieser Arbeit wird die sprachliche Signifikanz des Zusammenspiels von Frame-Semantik und Plastikw{\"o}rtern im Kontext der Politik des 21. Jahrhunderts untersucht. Nach der Vorstellung dieser beiden Theorien werden grundlegende Definitionen aus der Frame-Semantik und der Forschung zu Plastikw{\"o}rtern adaptiert, um das Vokabular in der politischen Kommunikation fachlich ad{\"a}quat analysieren zu k{\"o}nnen. F{\"u}r diese politolinguistische Analyse wurde eigenst{\"a}ndig ein Untersuchungskorpus erstellt, das aus Reden und Redeanteilen von deutschen Politikerinnen und Politikern aus dem Zeitraum von 2005 bis 2020 besteht. Das Korpus umfasst Reden bzw. Redeanteile verschiedener Politikerinnen und Politiker. Die korpuslinguistische Analyse soll den Zusammenhang zwischen Frame-Semantik und Plastikw{\"o}rtern in der Politik, sowie die dabei auftretenden sprachlichen Muster und Praktiken empirisch nachweisen. Hierzu wurde eine com-putergest{\"u}tzte Analyse mithilfe der Programmiersprachen Python und R durchgef{\"u}hrt. Sprache in der Politik bietet einen relevanten Themenbereich der Sprachwissenschaft. Sie ist durch die Medien in der Gesellschaft omnipr{\"a}sent und betrifft alle B{\"u}rgerinnen und B{\"u}rger. Aus diesem Grund ist die Bearbeitung dieses Fachgebietes von allgemeinem Interesse. Der kombinierte quantitative wie qualitative Einsatz von Frame-Semantik und Plastikwort-Forschung bei der Analyse eines politiksprachlichen Korpus stellt ein Forschungsdesiderat dar.}, subject = {Frame-Semantik}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Baumgartner2023, author = {Baumgartner, Isolde}, title = {Der Einfluss von Aufgabenmerkmalen auf situationales Interesse im Fach Geschichte}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-12785}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {316 Seiten}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Welche Typen von Lernaufgaben werden von Jugendlichen als interessant und bedeutsam wahrgenommen? Lassen sich positive Zusammenh{\"a}nge zwischen Aufgabenmerkmalen und aufgabenbezogenem situationalem Interesse von Sch{\"u}lerinnen und Sch{\"u}lern herstellen? Diese Arbeit untersucht auf der Basis von Interessentheorien die Wirkung von Aufgabenmerkmalen auf situationales Interesse im Fach Geschichte. Aufgrund haupts{\"a}chlich normativ gesetzter geschichtsdidaktischer Vorschl{\"a}ge zur Lernaufgabengestaltung fehlt bislang ein empirisch {\"u}berpr{\"u}ftes Klassifikationsschema zur Beschreibung von unterschiedlichen Aufgabenmerkmalen. Die vorliegende Studie stellt die Entwicklung eines Aufgabenkategoriensystems vor und untersucht den Zusammenhang zwischen Aufgabenmerkmalen und aufgabenspezifischem situationalem Interesse [Aufgabeninteressantheit (AI) und subjektive Bedeutsamkeit (SB)] von Lernenden. Als Aufgabenmerkmale ließen sich ‚Aufgabenschwierigkeit', ‚Offenheit der Aufgabenstellung' (Aufgabenstruktur), ‚Kognitive Anforderungen', ‚Lebensweltbezug', ‚Oberfl{\"a}chenmerkmale' (grafische Elemente) und ‚Aufgabenumfang' (Leseaufwand und Schreibaufwand) feststellen und wurden hinsichtlich AI und SB n{\"a}her untersucht. Es wurden insgesamt 801 bayerische Realsch{\"u}lerinnen und Realsch{\"u}ler (30 Klassen) der 9. Jahrgangsstufe dreimal innerhalb eines Zeitraums von zwei bis drei Wochen im Rahmen eines lernaufgabengesteuerten Unterrichts befragt. Nach {\"U}berpr{\"u}fung des Klassifikationsschemas zeigten multiple Regressionsanalysen, dass in den Einzelanalysen (Betrachtung der einzelnen Aufgabenmerkmale) AI vorwiegend durch schwierige Aufgaben, wenig strukturierte Aufgaben, Aufgaben mit hohen kognitiven Anforderungen sowie Aufgaben mit reiner Textdarstellung und hohem Lese- und Schreibaufwand vorhergesagt wurde, w{\"a}hrend SB nur durch Aufgaben mit Lebensweltbezug und Aufgaben mit hohem Leseaufwand pr{\"a}diziert wurde. Betrachtet man die Gesamtmodelle (Aufnahme aller Aufgabenmerkmale ins Modell) unter Ber{\"u}cksichtigung von Multikollinearit{\"a}t, zeigten sich positive Effekte auf SB bei Aufgaben mit dem Erfordernis eines historischen Werturteils, das ein In-Beziehung-Setzen des historischen Geschehens mit der eigenen Gegenwart impliziert. Hinsichtlich AI und SB zeigten sich positive Effekte bei Aufgaben mit hohem Leseaufwand. Negative Effekte auf AI ließen sich bei schwierigen Aufgaben und Aufgaben mit hohem Schreibaufwand feststellen. Hinsichtlich AI und SB zeigten sich negative Effekte bei Aufgaben mit reiner Textdarstellung. Der signifikant positive Einfluss von Aufgaben mit hohem Leseaufwand auf AI und SB deutet auf einen Pr{\"a}diktor hin, der Ans{\"a}tze f{\"u}r Nachfolgestudien im Fach Geschichte bietet. Da besonders die Lesekompetenz eine Voraussetzung und Teil historischer Kompetenz darstellt, sollte z. B. auf die Textschwierigkeit mehr Aufmerksamkeit gerichtet werden. Auch die Ergebnisse zum Schreibaufwand weisen auf Untersuchungsans{\"a}tze hin, welche Aufgabenkonstruktionen mit dem Erfordernis historischer Werturteile betreffen.}, subject = {Lernaufgabenforschung}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Aufenvenne2022, author = {Aufenvenne, Philipp}, title = {Looking at what Geographers do - Empirische Beitr{\"a}ge zur Wissenschaftsbeobachtung in der Geographie}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-12764}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {VII, 214 Seiten}, year = {2022}, abstract = {The research interest of this doctoral thesis addresses the academic practice of German-speaking geography. It is thus both a "meta-geographical" thesis in the sense of disciplinary science research and a social-geographical thesis that examines how scientists interact with each other as social actors in the academic field. In this dissertation, a total of five scientific articles are presented. All contributions examine German-language geography from a scientometric perspective. The unifying aspect of this work is not the one major research question, but the research object and the methodological perspective taken. The work is divided into two parts: Based on bibliometric data research and network analysis, the first part is dealing with the question of the unity of geography (papers 1-3) and paradigm evolution exemplified by the new cultural geography (paper 4). The second part deals with gender inequalities in geography. Here, one scientific article (paper 5) is presented and put into context. The focus is on gender differences in scientific practices at geographic conferences.}, subject = {Netzwerkanalyse }, language = {de} }