Metabolic disorders in the transition period indicate that the dairy cows' ability to adapt is overstressed

Metabolic disorders are a key problem in the transition period of dairy cows and often appear before the onset of further health problems. They mainly derive from difficulties the animals have in adapting to changes and disturbances occurring both outside and inside the organisms and due to varying gaps between nutrient supply and demand. Adaptation is a functional and target-oriented process involving the whole organism and thus cannot be narrowed down to single factors. Most problems which challenge the organisms can be solved in a number of different ways. To understand the mechanisms of adaptation, the interconnectedness of variables and the nutrient flow within a metabolic network need to be considered. Metabolic disorders indicate an overstressed ability to balance input, partitioning and output variables. Dairy cows will more easily succeed in adapting and in avoiding dysfunctional processes in the transition period when the gap between nutrient and energy demands and their supply is restricted. Dairy farms vary widely in relation to the living conditions of the animals. The complexity of nutritional and metabolic processes Animals 2015, 5 979 and their large variations on various scales contradict any attempts to predict the outcome of animals’ adaptation in a farm specific situation. Any attempts to reduce the prevalence of metabolic disorders and associated production diseases should rely on continuous and comprehensive monitoring with appropriate indicators on the farm level. Furthermore, low levels of disorders and diseases should be seen as a further significant goal which carries weight in addition to productivity goals. In the long run, low disease levels can only be expected when farmers realize that they can gain a competitive advantage over competitors with higher levels of disease.

Interannual and interdecadal oscillations in hydrological variables: Sources and modeling of the persistence in the Elbe River Basin

Wenn man die Existenz von physikalischen Mechanismen ignoriert, die für die Struktur hydrologischer Zeitreihen verantwortlich sind, kann das zu falschen Schlussfolgerungen bzgl. des Vorhandenseins möglicher Gedächtnis (memory) -Effekte, d.h. von Persistenz, führen. Die hier vorgelegte Doktorarbeit spürt der niedrigfrequenten klimatischen Variabilität innerhalb den hydrologischen Zyklus nach und bietet auf dieser "Reise" neue Einsichten in die Transformation der charakteristischen Eigenschaften von Zeitreihen mit einem Langzeitgedächtnis. Diese Studie vereint statistische Methoden der Zeitreihenanalyse mit empirisch-basierten Modelltechniken, um operative Modelle zu entwickeln, die in der Lage sind (1) die Dynamik des Abflusses zu modellieren, (2) sein zukünftiges Verhalten zu prognostizieren und (3) die Abflusszeitreihen an unbeobachteten Stellen abzuschätzen. Als solches präsentiert die hier vorgelegte Dissertation eine ausführliche Untersuchung zu den Ursachen der niedrigfrequenten Variabilität von hydrologischen Zeitreihen im deutschen Teil des Elbe-Einzugsgebietes, den Folgen dieser Variabilität und den physikalisch basierten Reaktionen von Oberflächen- und Grundwassermodellen auf die niedrigfrequenten Niederschlags-Eingangsganglinien. Die Doktorarbeit gliedert sich wie folgt: In Kapitel 1 wird als Hintergrundinformation das Hurst Phänomen beschrieben und ein kurzer Rückblick auf diesbezügliche Studien gegeben. Das Kapitel 2 diskutiert den Einfluss der Präsenz von niedrigfrequenten periodischen Zeitreihen auf die Zuverlässigkeit verschiedener Hurst-Parameter-Schätztechniken. Kapitel 3 korreliert die niedrigfrequente Niederschlagsvariabilität mit dem Index der Nord-Atlantischen Ozillations (NAO). Kapitel 4-6 sind auf den deutschen Teil des Elbe-Einzugsgebietes fokussiert. So werden in Kapitel 4 die niedrigfrequenten Variabilitäten der unterschiedlichen hydro-meteorologischen Parameter untersucht und es werden Modelle beschrieben, die die Dynamik dieser Niedrigfrequenzen und deren zukünftiges Verhalten simulieren. Kapitel 5 diskutiert die mögliche Anwendung der Ergebnisse für die charakteristische Skalen und die Verfahren der Analyse der zeitlichen Variabilität auf praktische Fragestellungen im Wasserbau sowie auf die zeitliche Bestimmung des Gebiets-Abflusses an unbeobachteten Stellen. Kapitel 6 verfolgt die Spur der Niedrigfrequenzzyklen im Niederschlag durch die einzelnen Komponenten des hydrologischen Zyklus, nämlich dem Direktabfluss, dem Basisabfluss, der Grundwasserströmung und dem Gebiets-Abfluss durch empirische Modellierung. Die Schlussfolgerungen werden im Kapitel 7 präsentiert. In einem Anhang werden technische Einzelheiten zu den verwendeten statistischen Methoden und die entwickelten Software-Tools beschrieben.

Vom Input zum Output

Infolge der durch die internationalen Schulvergleichstests eingeleiteten empirischen Wende in der Erziehungswissenschaft hat sich die Aufmerksamkeit vom Input schulischen Lehrens und Lernens zunehmend auf die Ergebnisse (Output) bzw. Wirkungen (Outcomes) verlagert. Die Kernfrage lautet nun: Was kommt am Ende in der Schule bzw. im Unterricht eigentlich heraus? Grundlegende Voraussetzung ergebnisorienterter Steuerung schulischen Unterrichts ist die Formulierung von Bildungsstandards. Wie Bildungsstandards mit Kompetenzmodellen und konkreten Aufgabenstellungen im Unterricht des Faches "Politik & Wirtschaft" verknüpft werden können, wird in diesem Beitrag einer genaueren Analyse unterzogen. Vor dem Hintergrund bildungstheoretischer Vorstellungen im Anschluss an Immanuel Kant kommen dabei das Literacy-Konzept der Pisa-Studie sowie die "Dokumentarische Methode" nach Karl Mannheim zur Anwendung.

Statistical evaluation of texture analysis from the biocrystallization method

The consumers are becoming more concerned about food quality, especially regarding how, when and where the foods are produced (Haglund et al., 1999; Kahl et al., 2004; Alföldi, et al., 2006). Therefore, during recent years there has been a growing interest in the methods for food quality assessment, especially in the picture-development methods as a complement to traditional chemical analysis of single compounds (Kahl et al., 2006). The biocrystallization as one of the picture-developing method is based on the crystallographic phenomenon that when crystallizing aqueous solutions of dihydrate CuCl2 with adding of organic solutions, originating, e.g., from crop samples, biocrystallograms are generated with reproducible crystal patterns (Kleber & Steinike-Hartung, 1959). Its output is a crystal pattern on glass plates from which different variables (numbers) can be calculated by using image analysis. However, there is a lack of a standardized evaluation method to quantify the morphological features of the biocrystallogram image. Therefore, the main sakes of this research are (1) to optimize an existing statistical model in order to describe all the effects that contribute to the experiment, (2) to investigate the effect of image parameters on the texture analysis of the biocrystallogram images, i.e., region of interest (ROI), color transformation and histogram matching on samples from the project 020E170/F financed by the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection(BMELV).The samples are wheat and carrots from controlled field and farm trials, (3) to consider the strongest effect of texture parameter with the visual evaluation criteria that have been developed by a group of researcher (University of Kassel, Germany; Louis Bolk Institute (LBI), Netherlands and Biodynamic Research Association Denmark (BRAD), Denmark) in order to clarify how the relation of the texture parameter and visual characteristics on an image is. The refined statistical model was accomplished by using a lme model with repeated measurements via crossed effects, programmed in R (version 2.1.0). The validity of the F and P values is checked against the SAS program. While getting from the ANOVA the same F values, the P values are bigger in R because of the more conservative approach. The refined model is calculating more significant P values. The optimization of the image analysis is dealing with the following parameters: ROI(Region of Interest which is the area around the geometrical center), color transformation (calculation of the 1 dimensional gray level value out of the three dimensional color information of the scanned picture, which is necessary for the texture analysis), histogram matching (normalization of the histogram of the picture to enhance the contrast and to minimize the errors from lighting conditions). The samples were wheat from DOC trial with 4 field replicates for the years 2003 and 2005, “market samples”(organic and conventional neighbors with the same variety) for 2004 and 2005, carrot where the samples were obtained from the University of Kassel (2 varieties, 2 nitrogen treatments) for the years 2004, 2005, 2006 and “market samples” of carrot for the years 2004 and 2005. The criterion for the optimization was repeatability of the differentiation of the samples over the different harvest(years). For different samples different ROIs were found, which reflect the different pictures. The best color transformation that shows efficiently differentiation is relied on gray scale, i.e., equal color transformation. The second dimension of the color transformation only appeared in some years for the effect of color wavelength(hue) for carrot treated with different nitrate fertilizer levels. The best histogram matching is the Gaussian distribution. The approach was to find a connection between the variables from textural image analysis with the different visual criteria. The relation between the texture parameters and visual evaluation criteria was limited to the carrot samples, especially, as it could be well differentiated by the texture analysis. It was possible to connect groups of variables of the texture analysis with groups of criteria from the visual evaluation. These selected variables were able to differentiate the samples but not able to classify the samples according to the treatment. Contrarily, in case of visual criteria which describe the picture as a whole there is a classification in 80% of the sample cases possible. Herewith, it clearly can find the limits of the single variable approach of the image analysis (texture analysis).

Status and Potential of Smallholder Livestock Production Systems in Xishuangbanna, southern P.R. China

With Chinas rapid economic development during the last decades, the national demand for livestock products has quadrupled within the last 20 years. Most of that increase in demand has been answered by subsidized industrialized production systems, while million of smallholders, which still provide the larger share of livestock products in the country, have been neglected. Fostering those systems would help China to lower its strong urban migration streams, enhance the livelihood of poorer rural population and provide environmentally save livestock products which have a good chance to satisfy customers demand for ecological food. Despite their importance, China’s smallholder livestock keepers have not yet gained appropriate attention from governmental authorities and researchers. However, profound analysis of those systems is required so that adequate support can lead to a better resource utilization and productivity in the sector. To this aim, this pilot study analyzes smallholder livestock production systems in Xishuangbanna, located in southern China. The area is bordered by Lao and Myanmar and geographically counts as tropical region. Its climate is characterized by dry and temperate winters and hot summers with monsoon rains from May to October. While the regionis plain, at about 500 m asl above sea level in the south, outliers of the Himalaya mountains reach out into the north of Xishuangbanna, where the highest peak reaches 2400 m asl. Except of one larger city, Jinghong, Xishuangbanna mainly is covered by tropical rainforest, areas under agricultural cultivation and villages. The major income is generated through inner-Chinese tourism and agricultural production. Intensive rubber plantations are distinctive for the lowland plains while small-scaled traditional farms are scattered in the mountane regions. In order to determine the current state and possible future chances of smallholder livestock production in that region, this study analyzed the current status of the smallholder livestock sector in the Naban River National Nature Reserve (NRNNR), an area which is largely representative for the whole prefecture. It covers an area of about 50square kilometer and reaches from 470 up to 2400 m asl. About 5500 habitants of different ethnic origin are situated in 24 villages. All data have been collected between October 2007 and May 2010. Three major objectives have been addressed in the study: 1. Classifying existing pig production systems and exploring respective pathways for development 2. Quantifying the performance of pig breeding systemsto identify bottlenecks for production 3. Analyzing past and current buffalo utilization to determine the chances and opportunities of buffalo keeping in the future In order to classify the different pig production s ystems, a baseline survey (n=204, stratified cluster sampling) was carried out to gain data about livestock species, numbers, management practices, cultivated plant species and field sizes as well associo-economic characteristics. Sampling included two clusters at village level (altitude, ethnic affiliation), resulting in 13 clusters of which 13-17 farms were interviewed respectively. Categorical Principal Component Analysis (CatPCA) and a two-step clustering algorithm have been applied to identify determining farm characteristics and assort recorded households into classes of livestock production types. The variables keep_sow_yes/no, TLU_pig, TLU_buffalo, size_of_corn_fields, altitude_class, size_of_tea_plantationand size_of_rubber_fieldhave been found to be major determinants for the characterization of the recorded farms. All farms have extensive or semi-intensive livestock production, pigs and buffaloes are predominant livestock species while chicken and aquaculture are available but play subordinate roles for livelihoods. All pig raisers rely on a single local breed, which is known as Small Ear Pig (SMEP) in the region. Three major production systemshave been identified: Livestock-corn based LB; 41%), rubber based (RB; 39%) and pig based (PB;20%) systems. RB farms earn high income from rubber and fatten 1.9 ±1.80 pigs per household (HH), often using purchased pig feed at markets. PB farms own similar sized rubber plantations and raise 4.7 ±2.77 pigs per HH, with fodder mainly being cultivated and collected in theforest. LB farms grow corn, rice and tea and keep 4.6 ±3.32 pigs per HH, also fed with collected and cultivated fodder. Only 29% of all pigs were marketed (LB: 20%; RB: 42%; PB: 25%), average annual mortality was 4.0 ±4.52 pigs per farm (LB: 4.6 ±3.68; RB: 1.9 ±2.14; PB: 7.1 ±10.82). Pig feed mainly consists of banana pseudo stem, corn and rice hives and is prepared in batches about two to three times per week. Such fodder might be sufficient in energy content but lacks appropriate content of protein. Pigs therefore suffer from malnutrition, which becomes most critical in the time before harvest season around October. Farmers reported high occurrences of gastrointestinal parasites in carcasses and often pig stables were wet and filled with manure. Deficits in nutritional and hygienic management are major limits for development and should be the first issues addressed to improve productivity. SME pork was found to be known and referred by local customers in town and by richer lowland farmers. However, high prices and lacking availability of SME pork at local wet-markets were the reasons which limited purchase. If major management constraints are overcome, pig breeders (PB and LB farms) could increase the share of marketed pigs for town markets and provide fatteners to richer RB farmers. RB farmers are interested in fattening pigs for home consumption but do not show any motivation for commercial pig raising. To determine the productivity of input factors in pig production, eproductive performance, feed quality and quantity as well as weight development of pigs under current management were recorded. The data collection included a progeny history survey covering 184 sows and 437 farrows, bi-weekly weighing of 114 pigs during a 16-months time-span on 21 farms (10 LB and 11 PB) as well as the daily recording of feed quality and quantity given to a defined number of pigs on the same 21 farms. Feed samples of all recorded ingredients were analyzed for their respective nutrient content. Since no literature values on thedigestibility of banana pseudo stem – which is a major ingredient of traditional pig feed in NRNNR – were found, a cross-sectional digestibility trial with 2x4 pigs has been conducted on a station in the research area. With the aid of PRY Herd Life Model, all data have been utilized to determine thesystems’ current (Status Quo = SQ) output and the productivity of the input factor “feed” in terms of saleable life weight per kg DM feed intake and monetary value of output per kg DM feed intake.Two improvement scenarios were simulated, assuming 1) that farmers adopt a culling managementthat generates the highest output per unit input (Scenario 1; SC I) and 2) that through improved feeding, selected parameters of reproduction are improved by 30% (SC II). Daily weight gain averaged 55 ± 56 g per day between day 200 and 600. The average feed energy content of traditional feed mix was 14.92 MJ ME. Age at first farrowing averaged 14.5 ± 4.34 months, subsequent inter-farrowing interval was 11.4 ± 2.73 months. Littersize was 5.8 piglets and weaning age was 4.3 ± 0.99 months. 18% of piglets died before weaning. Simulating pig production at actualstatus, it has been show that monetary returns on inputs (ROI) is negative (1:0.67), but improved (1:1.2) when culling management was optimized so that highest output is gained per unit feed input. If in addition better feeding, controlled mating and better resale prices at fixed dates were simulated, ROI further increased to 1:2.45, 1:2.69, 1:2.7 and 1:3.15 for four respective grower groups. Those findings show the potential of pork production, if basic measures of improvement are applied. Futureexploration of the environment, including climate, market-season and culture is required before implementing the recommended measures to ensure a sustainable development of a more effective and resource conserving pork production in the future. The two studies have shown that the production of local SME pigs plays an important role in traditional farms in NRNNR but basic constraints are limiting their productivity. However, relatively easy approaches are sufficient for reaching a notable improvement. Also there is a demand for more SME pork on local markets and, if basic constraints have been overcome, pig farmers could turn into more commercial producers and provide pork to local markets. By that, environmentally safe meat can be offered to sensitive consumers while farmers increase their income and lower the risk of external shocks through a more diverse income generating strategy. Buffaloes have been found to be the second important livestock species on NRNNR farms. While they have been a core resource of mixed smallholderfarms in the past, the expansion of rubber tree plantations and agricultural mechanization are reasons for decreased swamp buffalo numbers today. The third study seeks to predict future utilization of buffaloes on different farm types in NRNNR by analyzing the dynamics of its buffalo population and land use changes over time and calculating labor which is required for keeping buffaloes in view of the traction power which can be utilized for field preparation. The use of buffaloes for field work and the recent development of the egional buffalo population were analyzed through interviews with 184 farmers in 2007/2008 and discussions with 62 buffalo keepers in 2009. While pig based farms (PB; n=37) have abandoned buffalo keeping, 11% of the rubber based farms (RB; n=71) and 100% of the livestock-corn based farms (LB; n=76) kept buffaloes in 2008. Herd size was 2.5 ±1.80 (n=84) buffaloes in early 2008 and 2.2 ±1.69 (n=62) in 2009. Field work on own land was the main reason forkeeping buffaloes (87.3%), but lending work buffaloes to neighbors (79.0%) was also important. Other purposes were transport of goods (16.1%), buffalo trade (11.3%) and meat consumption(6.4%). Buffalo care required 6.2 ±3.00 working hours daily, while annual working time of abuffalo was 294 ±216.6 hours. The area ploughed with buffaloes remained constant during the past 10 years despite an expansion of land cropped per farm. Further rapid replacement of buffaloes by tractors is expected in the near future. While the work economy is drastically improved by the use of tractors, buffaloes still can provide cheap work force and serve as buffer for economic shocks on poorer farms. Especially poor farms, which lack alternative assets that could quickly be liquidizedin times of urgent need for cash, should not abandon buffalo keeping. Livestock has been found to be a major part of small mixed farms in NRNNR. The general productivity was low in both analyzed species, buffaloes and pigs. Productivity of pigs can be improved through basic adjustments in feeding, reproductive and hygienic management, and with external support pig production could further be commercialized to provide pork and weaners to local markets and fattening farms. Buffalo production is relatively time intensive, and only will be of importance in the future to very poor farms and such farms that cultivate very small terraces on steep slopes. These should be encouraged to further keep buffaloes. With such measures, livestock production in NRNNR has good chances to stay competitive in the future.

Effects of transformation processes in 'jubraka' agroforestry systems of the Nuba Mountains, Sudan, on nutrient fluxes

Intensification processes in homegardens of the Nuba Mountains, Sudan, raise concerns about strongly positive carbon (C) and nutrient balances which are expected to lead to substantial element losses from these agroecosystems, in particular via soil gaseous emissions. Therefore, this thesis aimed at the quantification of C, nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) input and output fluxes with a special focus on soil gaseous losses, and the calculation of respective element balances. A further focus in this thesis was rainfall, a valuable resource for rain-fed agriculture in the Nuba Mountains. To minimize negative consequences of the high variability of rainfall, risk reducing mechanisms were developed by rain-fed farmers that may lose their efficacy in the course of climate change effects predicted for East Africa. Therefore, the second objective of this study was to examine possible changes in rainfall amounts during the last 60 years and to provide reliable risk and probability statements of rainfall-induced events of agricultural importance to rain-fed farmers in the Nuba Mountains. Soil gaseous emissions of C (in form of CO2) and N (in form of NH3 and N2O) of two traditional and two intensified homegardens were determined with a portable dynamic closed chamber system. For C gaseous emission rates reached their peak at the onset of the rainy season (2,325 g CO2-C ha-1 h-1 in an intensified garden type) and for N during the rainy season (16 g NH3-N ha-1 h-1 and 11.3 g N2O-N ha-1 h-1, in a traditional garden type). Data indicated cumulative annual emissions of 5,893 kg CO2-C ha-1, 37 kg NH3-N ha-1, and 16 kg N2O-N ha-1. For the assessment of the long-term productivity of the two types of homegardens and the identification of pathways of substantial element losses, a C and nutrient budget approach was used. In three traditional and three intensified homegardens observation plots were selected. The following variables were quantified on each plot between June and December in 2010: soil amendments, irrigation, biomass removal, symbiotic N2 fixation, C fixation by photosynthesis, atmospheric wet and dry deposition, leaching and soil gaseous emissions. Annual balances for C and nutrients amounted to -21 kg C ha-1, -70 kg N ha-1, 9 kg P ha-1 and -117 kg K ha-1 in intensified homegardens and to -1,722 kg C ha-1, -167 kg N ha-1, -9 kg P ha-1 and -74 kg K ha-1 in traditional homegardens. For the analysis of rainfall data, the INSTAT+ software allowed to aggregate long-term daily rainfall records from the Kadugli and Rashad weather stations into daily, monthly and annual intervals and to calculate rainfall-induced events of agricultural importance. Subsequently, these calculated values and events were checked for possible monotonic trends by Mann-Kendall tests. Over the period from 1970 to 2009, annual rainfall did not change significantly for either station. However, during this period an increase of low rainfall events coinciding with a decline in the number of medium daily rainfall events was observed in Rashad. Furthermore, the availability of daily rainfall data enabled frequency and conditional probability calculations that showed either no statistically significant changes or trends resulting only in minor changes of probabilities.

Optimierung von Betriebsstrategien für elektrifizierte Antriebskonzepte

Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wird eine gemeinsame Optimierung der Hybrid-Betriebsstrategie und des Verhaltens des Verbrennungsmotors vorgestellt. Die Übernahme von den im Steuergerät verwendeten Funktionsmodulen in die Simulationsumgebung für Fahrzeuglängsdynamik stellt eine effiziente Applikationsmöglichkeit der Originalparametrierung dar. Gleichzeitig ist es notwendig, das Verhalten des Verbrennungsmotors derart nachzubilden, dass das stationäre und das dynamische Verhalten, inklusive aller relevanten Einflussmöglichkeiten, wiedergegeben werden kann. Das entwickelte Werkzeug zur Übertragung der in Ascet definierten Steurgerätefunktionen in die Simulink-Simulationsumgebung ermöglicht nicht nur die Simulation der relevanten Funktionsmodule, sondern es erfüllt auch weitere wichtige Eigenschaften. Eine erhöhte Flexibilität bezüglich der Daten- und Funktionsstandänderungen, sowie die Parametrierbarkeit der Funktionsmodule sind Verbesserungen die an dieser Stelle zu nennen sind. Bei der Modellierung des stationären Systemverhaltens des Verbrennungsmotors erfolgt der Einsatz von künstlichen neuronalen Netzen. Die Auswahl der optimalen Neuronenanzahl erfolgt durch die Betrachtung des SSE für die Trainings- und die Verifikationsdaten. Falls notwendig, wird zur Sicherstellung der angestrebten Modellqualität, das Interpolationsverhalten durch Hinzunahme von Gauß-Prozess-Modellen verbessert. Mit den Gauß-Prozess-Modellen werden hierbei zusätzliche Stützpunkte erzeugt und mit einer verminderten Priorität in die Modellierung eingebunden. Für die Modellierung des dynamischen Systemverhaltens werden lineare Übertragungsfunktionen verwendet. Bei der Minimierung der Abweichung zwischen dem Modellausgang und den Messergebnissen wird zusätzlich zum SSE das 2σ-Intervall der relativen Fehlerverteilung betrachtet. Die Implementierung der Steuergerätefunktionsmodule und der erstellten Steller-Sensor-Streckenmodelle in der Simulationsumgebung für Fahrzeuglängsdynamik führt zum Anstieg der Simulationszeit und einer Vergrößerung des Parameterraums. Das aus Regelungstechnik bekannte Verfahren der Gütevektoroptimierung trägt entscheidend zu einer systematischen Betrachtung und Optimierung der Zielgrößen bei. Das Ergebnis des Verfahrens ist durch das Optimum der Paretofront der einzelnen Entwurfsspezifikationen gekennzeichnet. Die steigenden Simulationszeiten benachteiligen Minimumsuchverfahren, die eine Vielzahl an Iterationen benötigen. Um die Verwendung einer Zufallsvariablen, die maßgeblich zur Steigerung der Iterationanzahl beiträgt, zu vermeiden und gleichzeitig eine Globalisierung der Suche im Parameterraum zu ermöglichen wird die entwickelte Methode DelaunaySearch eingesetzt. Im Gegensatz zu den bekannten Algorithmen, wie die Partikelschwarmoptimierung oder die evolutionären Algorithmen, setzt die neu entwickelte Methode bei der Suche nach dem Minimum einer Kostenfunktion auf eine systematische Analyse der durchgeführten Simulationsergebnisse. Mit Hilfe der bei der Analyse gewonnenen Informationen werden Bereiche mit den bestmöglichen Voraussetzungen für ein Minimum identifiziert. Somit verzichtet das iterative Verfahren bei der Bestimmung des nächsten Iterationsschrittes auf die Verwendung einer Zufallsvariable. Als Ergebnis der Berechnungen steht ein gut gewählter Startwert für eine lokale Optimierung zur Verfügung. Aufbauend auf der Simulation der Fahrzeuglängsdynamik, der Steuergerätefunktionen und der Steller-Sensor-Streckenmodelle in einer Simulationsumgebung wird die Hybrid-Betriebsstrategie gemeinsam mit der Steuerung des Verbrennungsmotors optimiert. Mit der Entwicklung und Implementierung einer neuen Funktion wird weiterhin die Verbindung zwischen der Betriebsstrategie und der Motorsteuerung erweitert. Die vorgestellten Werkzeuge ermöglichten hierbei nicht nur einen Test der neuen Funktionalitäten, sondern auch eine Abschätzung der Verbesserungspotentiale beim Verbrauch und Abgasemissionen. Insgesamt konnte eine effiziente Testumgebung für eine gemeinsame Optimierung der Betriebsstrategie und des Verbrennungsmotorverhaltens eines Hybridfahrzeugs realisiert werden.