Thomas M. Müller Books

The main focus of the present work is related to the optimization of heterojunction solar cells. The key roles in obtaining high efficient heterojunction solar cells are mainly the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition of very low defect layers, and the sufficient surface passivation of all interfaces. In heterojunction solar cells, the a-Si: H/c-Si hetero-interface is of significant importance, since the hetero-interface characteristics directly affect the junction properties and thus solar cell efficiency. In this work, the deposition and film properties of various hydrogenated amorphous silicon alloys, such as a-SiC: H, a-SiO_x: H, and muc-Si: H (standard a-Si: H is used as reference), are employed. Special attention is paid to (i) the front and back surface passivation of the bulk material by high-quality wide-gap amorphous silicon suboxides (a-SiO_x: H), and (ii) the influence of wide-gap high-quality a-Si- and muc-Si-based alloys for use as emitter and back-surface-field.

In 1907, Italian educator and physician Maria Montessori introduced a revolutionary method for teaching young children of Rome’s working class. Today, there are thousands of Montessori schools throughout the world. This book, one of the first to include original photographs of the first Montessori schools in Germany, Austria and America, explores the main aspects of her theory of education, focusing primarily on the learning materials that are so critical to carrying out Montessori’s philosophy.

The thesis explores the challenges portfolio managers encounter in generating excess returns compared to benchmarks for clients. It highlights significant research by Fama and French, as well as Lakonishok and colleagues, which suggests that specific investment styles can yield superior long-term performance. Notably, the work emphasizes the trend that value stocks often outperform growth stocks, providing insights into effective investment strategies within the realm of business management and corporate governance.

The book provides a comprehensive review of Parkinson's disease from both clinical and scientific perspectives, covering its preclinical course, symptomatology, and genetic factors. It explores various subtypes and their implications for pathology, alongside diagnostic tools and treatment strategies, including traditional and novel therapies focused on neuroprotection and neuroregeneration. A significant highlight is the discussion on budipine, a new antiparkinsonian drug that affects non-dopaminergic systems. The text emphasizes the ongoing challenges and unanswered questions in effectively treating Parkinson's disease.

Simulation software has been widely used in academic and industrial environments for a long time. In recent years, however, the available hardware characteristics have changed significantly and rapidly. Several years ago, true parallel processing was only available using clusters or expensive workstations, whereas today systems with multiple processor cores are well established and even mass market laptops provide multiple cores. Contrary to performance increase due to rising processor clock frequency in the past, existing software typically does not automatically benefit from these additional cores and several other improvements. Instead, it has to be adapted to properly benefit from the increased compute power and to efficiently use today’s multi- and many-core architectures. This thesis devises techniques to cost-effectively conduct these adaptations to increase the efficiency of industrial high voltage engineering applications on multi- and many-core architectures and help to leverage their full potential. This is done using several real world exemplary simulation software packages provided by industry partner ABB. The presented techniques include strategic changes to data structures and algorithms to improve time complexity by subtly inserting caches or extending data access methods where appropriate. Other changes improve performance by accounting for characteristic properties of processor hardware, such as caches or branch prediction - ultimately by dynamically generating optimized and highly problem specific code. Additionally, the implications of reimplementing an application based on new and improved theoretical methods regarding performance as well as cost-effective development are discussed and evaluated. Finally, various application characteristics and runtime parameters affecting parallel efficiency are illustrated on both general purpose multi-core processors as well as a Xeon Phi system representing a many-core architecture.

Demographic trends put a burden on EU pension provision. As the sustainability of pension systems is addressed by current pension reforms, lower benefit levels are projected. In this scenario, households may want to consider supplementing their public pension income. As their own residence is on average their most valuable asset, its transformation to income can be one form of alleviating financial distress in old age. Thomas Müller presents research findings on the interdependency of housing and pension wealth as well as on whether and to what extent housing wealth is decumulated after retirement. The author emphasizes the consideration of housing wealth in pension policies to enable European households to employ its housing asset as an income source in old age. About the Author Thomas Müller wrote his dissertation at the Real Estate Management Institute (REMI) at the EBS Business School. His research was motivated by the effects of demographic changes on pensionprovision in the EU. He focused especially on the allocation and liquidation of private housing wealth as a public pension supplement.

Verschiedene Perspektiven der Psychiatriegeschichte zusammenzuführen – dieses Ziel haben sich die Autorinnen und Autoren dieses Bandes zur Aufgabe gemacht. In ihren Beiträgen thematisieren sie die regionale Ebene ebenso wie die nationale oder die globale, immer mit dem Blick auf die multipolaren Dynamiken zwischen Zentren und Peripherien. Hierzu gehören unter anderem die Beziehungen zwischen den Wissenszentren der Psychiatrie sowie transnationale Netzwerke der Akteure und deren wissenschaftliche Konzepte mit ihren medizinischen und therapeutischen Funktionen. Das Spannungsfeld zwischen globalen und lokalen psychiatrischen Praktiken findet in den einzelnen Beiträgen ebenso Beachtung wie ein Vergleich akademischer und nicht-akademischer Psychiatrie oder die Frage nach den Konsequenzen staatlicher oder privater Verantwortlichkeit für einschlägige Institutionen. Nicht zuletzt wird auch der Einfluss medizinischer Laien auf psychiatrische Lebenswelten untersucht. Die thematische Vielfalt der Beiträge findet ihre Entsprechung in den verschiedenen disziplinären Perspektiven, die dieser Band versammelt – von der Allgemeingeschichte, der Medizin- und Wissenschaftsgeschichte, der Empirischen Kulturwissenschaft, den Medienwissenschaften und der Museologie bis hin zur Kunstgeschichte, Architektur und Anthropologie.

The MultiGradeMultiLevel-Methodology (MGML) offers students and teachers a reliable learning framework for both individualized and community-oriented education. With “ladders of learning” guiding children through their tasks, MGML allows mixed-age groups to work together in one classroom (multigrade) at various achievement levels (multi-level) according to a defined curriculum. MGML allows teachers to spend less time teaching and more time supporting their students individually and working with them personally. In this publication the authors introduce MGML’s origin and international variations localizing them within scientific horizons. As a core result MGML’s significance stretches far beyond individual processes or single classrooms no matter if the school is in Germany or in Kenya, if the students are at primary or at university level. MGML has shown its potential to impact not only schools and students, but the global community.

Gemeinsam die Schulbank drücken – dieser Ausdruck verweist auf ein vertrautes Objekt, dessen Geschichte und Bedeutung jedoch oft unbekannt sind. Zunächst war es die Schulbank mit dem dazugehörigen Stuhl, die Designer, Architekten und Hersteller über verschiedene Zeiten und Länder hinweg herausforderte. Der Katalog des VS-Schulmuseums in Tauberbischofsheim, das eine einzigartige Sammlung von Schulmöbeln aus Deutschland und dem Ausland beherbergt, verfolgt diese faszinierende Entwicklung in ihrer Vielfalt. Er zeigt, wie gesellschaftlicher Wandel, neue pädagogische Ansätze und innovative Schularchitektur sich gegenseitig beeinflussen und die moderne Schuleinrichtung geprägt haben. Die kindgerechte Gestaltung pädagogischer Umgebungen ist kein nostalgisches Thema; das ursprüngliche Ziel der Reformer, Schulen zu Orten zu machen, die die ganzheitliche Entwicklung des Kindes fördern, bleibt aktuell und umstritten. Diese reich bebilderte Publikation bietet einen historischen Überblick und einen Ausblick auf zukünftige Entwicklungen. Thomas Müller, Geschäftsführer der VS Vereinigte Spezialmöbelfabriken, initiierte 1990 das Schulmuseum zum hundertjährigen Bestehen des Unternehmens, das die internationale Entwicklung der Klassenzimmereinrichtungen seit dem Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts in kulturhistorischen Kontexten behandelt. Romana Schneider, die am Aufbau des Museums mitwirkte, ist heute als freie Ausstellungsmacherin und Publizistin in B