The paper discusses a new method for the propagation of risk levels. This discretization takes place by considering the phase space of the state and its subdivision into boxes. In each time step, the method computes the probability of the state being in one box. We start with a variety of technical and physical problems by showing how discrete modeling under uncertainties is technically meaningful and often even problem inherent. Then we select the technical problem of contaminant spread in water grids, to which we apply the method of risk-level propagation in depth. Extensions of the method such as modeling of contaminant mixing at junctions in the discretized phase space and the applicability of conservation laws arise naturally along these lines and are discussed in the context of the general theory.

The first phase of the Trypillia mega-sites' methodological revolution began in 1971 with aerial photography, magnetic prospection, and archaeological excavations of huge settlements of hundreds of hectares belonging to the Trypillia culture in Ukraine. Since 2009, we have created a second phase of the methodological revolution in studies of Trypillia mega-sites, which has provided more significant advances in our understanding of these large sites than any other single research development in the last three decades, thanks partly to the participation of joint Ukrainian-foreign teams. In this paper, we outline the main aspects of the second phase, using examples from the Anglo-Ukrainian project ‘Early urbanism in prehistoric Europe: the case of the Trypillia mega-sites', working at Nebelivka (also spelled ‘Nebilivka’), and the Ukrainian-German project ‘Economy, demography and social space of Trypillia mega-sites', working at Taljanky (‘Talianki’), Maydanetske (‘Maydanetskoe’), and Dobrovody, as well as the smaller site at Apolianka.

The potential of electrospray deposition, for the controlled preparation of particles for imaging in electron microscopes, is evaluated on various materials: from mono-modal suspensions of spherical particles to multimodal suspensions and to real-world industrial materials. It is shown that agglomeration is reduced substantially on the sample carrier, compared with conventional sample preparation techniques. For the first time, it is possible to assess the number concentration of a tri-modal polystyrene suspension by electron microscopy, due to the high deposition efficiency of the electrospray. We discovered that some suspension stabilizing surfactants form artifact particles during electrospraying. These can be avoided by optimizing the sprayed suspension.

Ideas of Neolithic societies and of the identities of Neolithic individuals changed rapidly during the last decade. The archaeological concept of “culture” implies sequential changes of material culture in spatial and temporal “slices.” The term “society” describes human behavior within social identities, which could produce huge differences in material culture. Ideas of Neolithic “cultures” are no longer valid, as absolute chronological evidence points to overlapping phenomena of material culture and social developments. A combined use of correspondence analysis (to detect similarities and differences in material culture) and radiocarbon data (to identify the chronological character of material culture) exemplifies such an approach in the deconstruction and reconstruction of Neolithic central Germany.

Group III nitrides are promising materials for light emitting diodes (LEDs). The occurrence of structural defects strongly affects the efficiency of these LEDs. We investigate the optical properties of basal plane stacking faults (BFSs), and the assignment of specific spectral features to distinct defect types by direct correlation of localized emission bands measured by cathodoluminescence in a scanning electron microscope with defects found in high resolution (scanning) transmission electron microscopy and electron beam induced current at identical sample spots. Thus, we are able to model the electronic structure of BSFs addressing I1, I2, and E type BSFs in GaN and AlGaN with low Al content. We find hints that BSFs in semipolar AlGaN layers cause local changes of the Al content, which strongly affects the usability of AlGaN as an electron blocking layer in nitride based LEDs.

The scalable storage of renewable energy by means of converting water to hydrogen fuels electrochemically hinges on fundamental improvements in catalytic materials. However, many applications exist where an extended lifetime is virtually crucial for their functionality and success, e.g. in case of limited accessibility such as tire pressure sensors or biomedical implants. For these kinds of applications, the ultimate power supply should be a self-renewing energy source. This strategy is pursued by the concept of Micro Energy Harvesting (MEH). Within a MEH system a micro generator converts ambient energy to electrical energy for driving an application. Unfortunately, it is not ensured that the ambient energy level will maintain always high enough to provide sufficient power to the system as harvested energy usually manifests itself in rather irregular, random and low-energy bursts. One appealing form of integrated energy storage is the use of H2/air, a so called fuel cell type (FC) battery. Such devices promise very high volumetric energy densities of more than 2000 Wh/l. Consequently, this type of battery has recently attracted more and more attention and primary as well as secondary cells have been realized. Alkaline polymer electrolyte fuel cells have been recognized as the most promising solution in order to overcome the dependency on noble metal catalysts. Nevertheless, further improvements for these kinds of fuel cells have to be reached with respect to high power. Therefore, one promising approach is to increase the skin surface of porous chromium decorated nickel electrodes for enhancement of exchange current density by forming three-dimensional (3D) microstructures directly into the electrode. Therefore, a novel laser structuring process was applied using ultrashort laser pulses. Ultrashort laser processing of complex multimaterial systems for energy storage allow for precise material removal without changing the material properties. By applying this novel laser-based structuring technique, 3D microstructures could be formed permitting shortened diffusion lengths between the electrolyte and the electrode surface being necessary for increased exchange current densities.