This work deals with the life and, particularly, the political career of Dr. Rollin Bunch, a three-term mayor of Muncie, Indiana. There are several valid reasons why Bunch's life and career deserve a study. Simple chronology is a major reason. Bunch's first two terms were during the tumultuous World War I era, and his final administration occurred during the equally historic Depression of the 1930s.Another reason to pursue this study is that Bunch represents both the political bossism of the turn of the century and the idealism expressed by the New Deal. By employing old-fashioned power politics to obtain progressive and liberal goals, Bunch proved to be an innovative leader. His frequent legal problems, including several indictments and even a federal prison term, also make him an interesting case study.Primary data, which consists of sources not contaminated by the opinions and prejudices of others, will provide most documentation. Contemporary newspapers have been my main source. The newspapers most used in this study are two conservative, Republican daily papers, The Muncie Morning Star and The Muncie Evening Press. Two defunct weekly papers were also studied, The X-Ray and The Muncie Post Democrat. The X-Ray was a barely coherent anti-Semitic paper, whereas The Muncie Post Democrat was published by another Muncie mayor and bitter enemy of Bunch, George Dale. All four newspapers routinely vilified Bunch, which makes his substantial electoral success even more remarkable.Personal interviews were another major source. The main problem was finding people who could clearly recall the events of six to seven decades ago, not an easy task. Despite these inherent problems, documentation concerning Bunch was available from several sources.I believe this dissertation will add substantially to the body of work available concerning local histories generally, and Muncie and Delaware County particularly. / Department of History

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:26:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2008-11-13Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:54:06Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 bulgarelli_emb_me_jabo.pdf: 236415 bytes, checksum: 527cf344cf8f231a39b406fdcbabe5e1 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Para obtenção de bons resultados de produtividade com menor custo, o uso do espaçamento entrelinhas e densidades de plantas na linha devem ser adequados, pois, a população de plantas é um dos fatores que se destacam por afetar diretamente os componentes de produção. Tendo em vista a escassez de informações relacionadas ao comportamento de variedades de amendoim, principalmente as rasteiras, cultivadas em diferentes populações, propôs-se no presente trabalho estudar os efeitos da densidade de plantas no desenvolvimento e produtividade do amendoim. Foram conduzidos três experimentos envolvendo três cultivares, sendo duas rasteiras Runner IAC 886 e IAC Caiapó e uma ereta IAC Tatu ST. Foram estudadas quatro densidades de plantas (22, 18, 12 e 6 plantas/m) mantendo-se o espaçamento entrelinhas em 0,90 m. Utilizou-se o delineamento em blocos ao acaso com quatro repetições, sendo a parcela experimental constituída de 7 linhas de 5 m de comprimento. Os resultados foram submetidos à análise de variância pelo teste F e as médias foram comparadas pelo teste de Tukey a 5% de probabilidade. As características relacionadas ao crescimento vegetativo foram pouco influenciadas pelas densidades de plantas. A cultivar Runner IAC 886 apresentou maior número de ramificações na menor densidade de plantas e a IAC Caiapó, apresentou maior comprimento de ramificações na maior densidade de plantas. Dentre as características relacionadas à produtividade, a mais afetada pela densidade de plantas foi o número de vagens por planta. A cultivar IAC Caiapó apresentou maior número de vagens por planta na menor densidade testada. As cultivares rasteiras Runner IAC 886 e IAC Caiapó apresentaram produtividades semelhantes nas diferentes densidades testadas e a ereta IAC Tatu ST, maiores produtividades nas maiores densidades de plantas. / The row spacing and plants density must be adequate for obtaining yield increases with lower costs, since the plants population is one of the main factors directly affecting the yield components. Once the information related to peanut varieties behavior in different populations is scarce, the aim of the present work was to study the effect of plants density on peanut yield and development. Experiments were carried out using three cultivars, the runner type ones Runner IAC 886 and IAC Caiapó and the bunch type IAC Tatu ST. Four plants density (22, 18, 12 and 6 plants per meter of row) were evaluated in 0.90 m row spacing. The randomized block design was used with four replicates, being the experimental plots composed by 7 rows of 5 m length each. Data were submitted to the variance analysis by the F test and means were compared by the Tukey test (5% probability). Traits related to vegetative growth were lightly affected by the different plants density. The higher plant branching was observed at the lower density for the Runner IAC 886 cultivar, while the IAC Caiapó showed higher plant branching at the higher density. Among the yield components, the number of pods per plant was the most affected trait by the plants density change. The IAC Caiapó cultivar showed the higher number of pods per plant at the lower tested density. Otherwise, the runner type cultivars Runner IAC 886 and IAC Caiapó showed similar results for yield at the different tested densities, whereas the bunch type IAC Tatu ST had higher yield at higher plants density.

The application of crop residues is one of the most common agricultural practices used to maintain soil ecosystems and crop productivity. This thesis focuses on the oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) agroecosystem, an important tropical crop that has expanded rapidly over the past four decades. Both land conversion and business-as-usual practices within the plantations have contributed to soil degradation. The application of oil palm residues, such as empty fruit bunches (EFB) and oil palm fronds, are thought to have positive effects on the soil ecosystem; yet there is currently a deficit of knowledge on their effectiveness. This thesis aims to examine the effects of oil palm residue application on soil physicochemical properties, soil biota, and ecosystem functions. It reports the results of extensive field trials, sample collection, and statistical analysis of crop residue applications in oil palm plantations in Central Sumatra, Indonesia. Four key results emerged from the thesis. First, in this study site land conversion from secondary forest to oil palm does not affect litter decomposition rate, but positively influences soil fauna activity. Second, there is greater soil fauna activity following EFB application than oil palm fronds or chemical fertilizers, and the fauna activity is highly associated with changes in soil chemical properties and soil moisture conditions. Third, EFB application enhances soil ecosystem functions, through the direct provision of organic matter, and by influencing soil biota. Finally, over 15 years of application, EFB appears to be effective in maintaining or increasing annual crop yield in comparison to chemical fertiliser treatment. Temporal changes in crop yield under EFB application appear to be associated with climatic conditions and soil organic carbon. Overall, these findings improve our understanding of the potential of oil palm residue applications to increase soil quality, soil biota, and ecosystem functions. They also provide useful information for a wider audience of soil ecologists, agricultural managers, and policy makers to improve sustainable management of the oil palm ecosystem.

Il marciume del grappolo, causato da Botrytis cinerea, è una delle principali malattie che colpiscono la vite. Botrytis cinerea si sviluppa e cresce attivamente come patogeno necrotrofo e saprofita su diversi substrati. In vigneto, B. cinerea può produrre un ampio numero di conidi in un’ampia gamma di condizioni ambientali. Botrytis cinerea ha diversi pathway d’infezione e le infezioni occorrono principalmente in due periodi: dalla fioritura allo sviluppo dei giovani grappoli, e dopo invaiatura alla raccolta. A causa della complessità del ciclo di vita di B. cinerea e all’esistenza di questi diversi pathway d’infezione, i fungicidi vengono normalmente applicati a fine della fioritura (A), pre-chiusura del grappolo (B), invaiatura (C), e prima della raccolta (D). Le applicazioni durante la prima parte della stagione (A e B) hanno come obiettivo: i) la riduzione della germinazione dei conidi e le infezioni fiorali, ii) la prevenzione delle infezioni latenti delle bacche, e iii) la disinfezione dei residui di fioritura. Le applicazioni successive all’invaiatura (C e D) hanno lo scopo non solo di prevenire le infezioni durante la maturazione ma anche di disinfestare i residui di fioritura rimasti all’interno del grappolo. Questa strategia, basata su quattro trattamenti, garantisce una buona protezione contro il marciume del grappolo in vigneto, tuttavia presenta alcuni limiti: i) si tratta di un approccio preventivo che non considera il reale rischio d’infezione, con il conseguente effetto di eseguire trattamenti non necessari; ii) aumenta la probabilità che si sviluppino popolazioni resistenti ai fungicidi; iii) implica potenziali risvolti negativi sulla salute umana e sull’ambiente. Negli ultimi anni, nuove tipologie di prodotti, come gli agenti di biocontrollo (BCAs) e i botanicals, sono state proposte per ridurre l’uso eccessivo di prodotti chimici e aumentare la sostenibilità del controllo del marciume del grappolo in vigneto. Lo scopo di questa tesi di Dottorato è stato: i) comparare diverse strategie di controllo e valutare l’interazione tra fungicidi con diversi timing di applicazione, ii) valutare l’effetto sulla colonizzazione e sporulazione di B. cinerea su residui fiorali di diversi prodotti (fungicidi, agenti di biocontrollo, e botanicals) applicati con diversi timing; iii) valutare un modello meccanicistico sviluppato da González-Domínguez et al. (2015); e iv) includere all’interno di un modello per il biocontrollo, sviluppato da Jeger et al. (2009), l’effetto delle condizioni ambientali sulle interazioni BCA-patogeno. / Botrytis bunch rot (BBR), caused by Botrytis cinerea, is one of the main diseases affecting grapevine. Botrytis cinerea develops and actively grows as necrotrophic pathogen and as saprophyte on different substrates. In grapevine, B. cinerea can produce a large number of conidia on bunch and leaf trash and rotted berries under a wide range of environmental conditions. Botrytis cinerea has multiple infection pathways and infection mainly occurs in two periods: from flowering to young cluster development, and after veraison to harvest. Due to the complexity of the B. cinerea life cycle and the existence of these different infection pathways, fungicides are usually applied at the end of flowering (A), pre-bunch closure (B), veraison (C), and before harvest (D). The early season applications (A and B) are aimed at: i) reducing conidial germination and infection of flowers, ii) preventing latent infections of berries, and iii) disinfesting the bunch trash. The later-season applications (i.e., the applications from veraison until harvest; C and D) are aimed not only at preventing berry infection during ripening but also at disinfesting bunch trash in order to reduce the inoculum load. This fungicide schedule may results in unnecessary sprays because the applications are preventive and do not take into account the real risk of BBR infections. In the last decades, new products, like biological control agents (BCAs) and botanicals, have been proposed for reducing the excessive use of chemicals in agriculture and increase the sustainable of BBR control in vineyards. The aim of this Doctoral work was to: i) compare different control strategies and evaluate the interactions among fungicides applied at different timings; ii) investigate the effects of different products (fungicides, biological control agents, and botanicals) applied at different timings on B. cinerea bunch trash colonization and sporulation; iii) evaluate a weather-driven mechanistic model developed by González-Domínguez et al. (2015); and iv) include into a model for biological control, developed by Jeger et al. (2009), the effect of environmental conditions on the pathogen-BCA interactions.

Die Reichweiteverifikation von Protonen ist ein wichtiger Schritt zur Erhöhung der Präzision der Protonentherapie. Eine neue Methode ist das Prompt -Ray Timing, bei dem Reichweiteinformation aus der Zeitverteilung detektierter Gammaquanten gewonnen wird. Für eine genaue Reichweitebestimmung wird jedoch eine präzise und konstante Zeitreferenz benötigt. Um entdeckte Phasenverschiebungen zwischen Protonbunch und der als Zeitreferenz genutzten Hochfrequenz des Zyklotrons korrigieren zu können, werden Proton- Bunch-Monitore eingesetzt. Diese Arbeit soll abschätzen, ob und wo Proton-Bunch-Monitore im Protonenstrahl eingesetzt werden können. Nach ersten Abschätzungen mit dem Lynx von IBA Dosimetry wurden zwei Monitore auf Basis einer szintillierenden Faser und dem U100-Spektrometer von Target in die äußeren lateralen Bereiche von Protonenstrahlen verschiedener Energien bei niedrigen Strahlströmen (0,01 nA bis 0,1 nA) gebracht. Es zeigt sich eine systematische Abhängigkeit der Relativzeit und der horizontalen Position im Strahl, welche auf die Strahlumlenkung zurückzuführen ist. Diese resultiert in einer systematischen Abhängigkeit der mittleren Reichweite und der horizontalen Position. Durch Abschätzung der Protonenrate für einen klinischen Strom von 2 nA konnten potentielle Einsatzorte im Strahl-Halo identifiziert werden. Weitere Untersuchungen sind jedoch notwendig, um die Einsetzbarkeit zur Korrektur von Phasenverschiebungen unter klinischen Bedingungen zu erproben. / The range verification of protons is an important step towards increasing the precision of proton therapy. A new method is the prompt -ray timing, where range information is obtained from the time distribution of detected gamma quanta. However, the method requires a precise and constant time reference for accurate range determination. proton bunch monitors can be used to correct detected phase shifts between proton bunch and the cyclotron radio frequency used as a time reference. This work should estimate if and where proton bunch monitors can be used in the proton beam. According to initial estimates with the Lynx from IBA Dosimetry, two monitors based on scintillating fiber and Target’s U100 spectrometer were used in the outer lateral regions of proton beams of different energies at low beam currents (0.01 nA to 0.1 nA). It shows a systematic dependence of the relative time and the horizontal position in the beam, which is due to the beam deflection. This results in a systematic dependence of the mean range and the horizontal position. By estimating the proton rate for a clinical current of 2 nA, potential positions of application in the beam halo were identified. However, further investigations are needed to test the applicability for the correction of phase shifts under clinical conditions.

The aim of this thesis was to design a facility for wine in South Moravia, situated near the New Mills dam. In addition to stemming the needed space for storage, pressing, packaging and export of guilt, I also suggested areas for visitors, especially exhibition space, restaurant, shop wine, tasting room, suite accommodations. The building includs apartment for owner of wineries. The building is designed with regard to environmental concerns.As part of the concept of ecological water purification and also its natural resources (eg ground heat exchanger, solar collectors). An important component of the concept is not only the building itself but also all aspects related thereto, in particular the inclusion of wine in the landscape and future land use in its vicinity. You need to create a place that becomes something more than the actual building. Also to enhance cycling and visit rate in this area I suggested the boat rental, which, along with smaller restaurant and bicycle store contributes to a better use of waterfront and water reservoir.

Vitis vinifera L.(Vv), the European cultivated grapevine is one of the most worldwide important crops but is highly susceptible to the necrotrophic fungus Botrytis cinerea (Bc), the causal agent of bunch rot (BR) disease. In grapevine, as well as in other fruit species, it has been described a primary infection by Bc at full bloom, followed by a quiescence period during the berry development, and the fungal egression after veraison reaching the maximum at harvest. Today, this important disease is mainly controlled by massive use of fungicides, which are applied at different developmental stages that happen to be critical during the grapevine-Bc interaction. During the contact, the fungus must overcome several barriers from the host, which protect it from the pathogen attack and might be also modulated or activated due to the presence of the pathogen itself. The cuticle and the cell wall (CW) represent the first barriers from the plant encountered by the pathogen. To successfully colonize the plant tissue, Bc possesses several virulence factors, and CW modifying enzymes (CWMEs) are part of them. On the other hand, the regulated activity of the CWMEs, expressed both by the host and the pathogen, could alter the plant CW composition and porosity, therefore facilitating, or limiting the penetration of the fungus. Among the CWMEs, Pectin methylesterases (PMEs) regulate the degree of methyl esterification of the pectin homogalacturonan, also modifying the epitopes for the activity of other CWMEs such as polygalacturonases (PGs) and pectate lyases (PLs) by whose action, pectin becomes more susceptible to degradation and the CW more accessible by the pathogen. Previous works both in Arabidopsis thaliana and in crop species identified several PME genes with an altered expression in response to pathogens. A previous report characterizing Atpme17 mutant lines has highlighted a role of AtPME17 in the resistance response to Bc in contrast with the opposite role of AtPME3, suggesting that PME genes could have a completely different action during Bc response depending on the isoform involved. In this context, the main objective of the project was to identify new strategies for Bc BR-control, and specifically i) to identify candidate genes involved in the response to Bc, whose inactivation/overexpression would lead to Bc resistant plants and ii) to set up a molecular method to monitor the Bc load in the field and therefore implement a more sustainable control of the pathogen. To further understand the effects of the Bc primary infection in grapevine flowers at CW level, two contrasting genotypes (Souvignier gris (SG) and Teroldego (TE)) in their resistance to the fungus were considered. An artificial inoculation of different biological replicates, in vase maintained, was performed at full bloom, in controlled conditions, and samples were collected at 24 hours post-inoculation (hpi) with the fungus and post-treatment with the respective control, for the following RNA-seq analysis and biochemical characterization of PME activity and CW composition in the two genotypes before and upon infection. The Bc load was estimated in the flowers using qPCR and as expected, a higher biomass of Bc was found in TE, the susceptible cultivar, than in SG, the resistant one. The analysis of CW composition, PME activity and degree of pectin methyl-esterification, both in treated and control flowers, showed significant differences between the two genotypes, in particular SG showed a significant induction of PME activity with respect to the control, evidence not present in the susceptible genotype. The RNAseq analysis on the same samples showed a total of 4800 genes modulated, out of which 3064 are only modulated in TE, 739 only in SG and a common group of 997 genes. Regardless of the cultivar, upon infection there was a total 2919 genes upregulated vs 1909 genes downregulated. A gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) indicated several over-represented categories upon infection, including response to pathogens and biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, with a general down-regulation of those genes related to CW organization and pectin modification (CWMEs), mostly in the resistant genotype. Within the down-regulated CWMEs, Pectin methylesterase (PME) genes were found highly represented. Unlike, a larger gene set, in many cases with a higher fold-change of induction, was identified in TE respect to SG. This is the case of genes involved in the defense response and its regulation, and in the modification/reinforcement of the cell wall, therefore attesting for an initial tentative by the susceptible genotype to counteract the pathogen, although at the end without success. This was also the case of the seven VviPME genes previously highlighted by the in-silico co-expression analysis and therefore of VviPME10, the gene with the highest homology to AtPME17. Among the regulators, one WRKY factor (VviWRKY3), known to be related to defense response in grapevine mediated by stilbene synthesis, was also further characterized as putative regulator of VviPME10, whose promoter hosts more than one several predicted binding sites for VviWRKY3. Indeed, luciferase assay results indicate a significant activation of VviPME10 promoter by VviWRKY3 factor. Parallelly, the genome-wide analysis of the last structural annotation of the grapevine genome assembly allowed us to identify 62 VviPME gene members, 15 more than a previous report, and manually curate the gene structure for 39 of them. Then, to corroborate the idea of the role of the CW, and in particular of PME activity, in the grapevine response to the fungus, an in silico co-expression analysis of the 62 VviPME members, considering the publicly available RNA-seq experiments related to grapevine-Bc interactions and the RNAseq experiment conducted in this project, was performed. The analysis highlighted a group of seven genes (VviPME1, VvPME9, VviPME10, VviPME11, VviPME12, VviPME13 and VviPME54) with significant induction upon Bc infection, five of them (VviPME8, VviPME9, VviPME10, VviPME11, and VviPME54) located in the same chromosome (chr06). VviPME10 showed the highest homology and was found to be phylogenetically close to the Arabidopsis thaliana PME17 gene, suggesting being considered as its putative orthologue. Afterward, Therefore, considering the increased VviPME10 expression upon infection, and the reported effect of AtPME17 in A. thaliana, VviPME10 was selected as a potential candidate to study its role in grapevine. In this regard, two strategies were adopted, i. VviPME10 knock-out (KO) with CRISPR/Cas9 and ii. VviPME10 overexpression (OE, under CaMV35S promoter) through embryogenic callus transformation of the grapevine cultivar ‘Sugraone’ mediated by Agrobacterium tumefaciens. More than 100 embryos developed, and around 20 plantlets per transformation were analyzed to check the presence of the transgenic construct. Then, the mutation profile, in the case of KO lines, and the expression analysis of the transgene, in the case of OE lines, were carried out to select the appropriate lines to acclimatize. OE lines were also tested for VviPME10 activity. A total protein extract was obtained from the leaves of the lines, showing a higher protein activity compared to the control, and indicating the functionality of the enzyme. Unfortunately, grapevine OE lines couldn’t be analyzed for their response to Bc, while KO lines showed a significantly larger lesion area when compared to the control at 5 days post fungal inoculation (dpi). However, the effect of VviPME10 overexpression upon Bc infection was evaluated also in Nicotiana benthamiana VviPME10-OE lines, generated in parallel. At 3 dpi a significant reduction was observed in the lesion area compared to the control. These results suggest that pectin modification, mediated by VviPME10, plays an important role in the grapevine response to Bc, in particular it seems to behave more like a resistance gene than a susceptibility one. For this reason, it could be considered as a valuable target to improve resistance to Bc in susceptible grapevine varieties. Finally, a molecular method for Bc detection, based on quantitative RT-PCR assays, was set up and applied to estimate the Bc load in field conditions. Although the method allowed the successful detection of the presence of the fungus in samples at different developmental stages, from two V. vinifera cultivars, in different vineyards, the lack of environmental conditions for the development of the disease might have impaired the correlation between detection and the development of the disease. Nonetheless, the method represents a good alternative for monitoring the Bc load in the field at the early season, to predict the BcBR severity at harvest and eventually apply the disease management protocols based on the real need.

Im Jahre 1958, schlug Kenneth W. Robinson die Nutzung eines Korrektormagneten vor um den entdämpften radialen Betatronoszillationen im Cambridge electron accelerator entgegen zu wirken. Dieser Korrektormagnet sollte aus kurzen, alternierenden Dipolen mit einem starken Gradienten bestehen, sodass die Verluste durch Synchrotronstrahlung mit zunehmendem Trajektorienradius abnehmen. Diese Transversal-Gradienten-Wiggler werden auch "Robinson Wiggler" (RW) genannt. Die Metrology Light Source (MLS), welche Eigentum der Physikalisch-Technischen Bundesanstalt (PTB) ist und vom Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) entworfen und betrieben wird, ist ein Elektronen-Synchrotron, optimiert für die Produktion von Synchrotronstrahlung im Spektralbereich zwischen THz und EUV. Da die MLS eine gerampte Maschine ist, nimmt der gespeicherte Elektronenstrom mit der Zeit ab und die Strahllebensdauer ist von Bedeutung für die Nutzer der Synchrotronstrahlung. Es wird vorgeschlagen einen RW bei der MLS zu installieren um die Strahllebensdauer zu erhöhen. Mit RW wäre es möglich, Dämpfung aus der longitudinalen in die horizontale Ebene zu verschieben sodass sich die Energiebreite um einen Faktor 3 erhöht und die Emittanz sich um ungefähr einen Faktor 2 reduziert. Die Länge der Elektronenpakete wird dadurch stärker verlängert als die mittlere horizontale Paketbreite reduziert wird. So nimmt die Elektronendichte im Paket ab und die Verlustrate sinkt. Dies hat zu Folge dass sich die Lebensdauer verbessert und die Aktivierung von Komponenten reduziert wird. Mit erhöhter Energiebreite und verringerter Emittanz, wird der Beitrag der Dispersion zur horizontalen Quellgröße stärker. Durch geeignete Wahl der Magnetoptik kann die Brillianz am Quellpunkt erhöht werden bei gleichzeitiger Verbesserung der Lebensdauer. Simulationen zeigen dass die Lebensdauer an der MLS durch die Installation eines solchen RW um einen Faktor 2.3 ansteigt, was einem Zugewinn an integriertem Photonenfluss von 30 % entspricht. / In 1958, Kenneth W. Robinson proposed the usage of a magnetic correction device to reduce the antidamping of radial betatron oscillations in the Cambridge electron accelerator. The essence of this correction device are short, alternating dipoles with a strong gradient, such that the radiation loss decreases with increasing radius of trajectory. These transverse gradient wigglers are also called "Robinson Wigglers" (RW). The Metrology Light Source (MLS), owned by the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) and designed and operated by Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB), is an electron synchrotron, optimized for the production of synchrotron radiation in the THz to the EUV spectral region. Being a ramped machine, Top-Up operation is not possible. With a decaying beam current, the lifetime of the stored beam is of importance for the user community, for reasons of temporal stability and integrated photon flux. It is proposed to install a RW at the MLS in order to improve the beam lifetime. With a RW, it is possible to transfer damping from the longitundinal to the horizontal plane in a way, that the energy spread increases by a factor of 3 and the emittance reduces by a factor of 2. Doing so, the bunch length is increased by a larger fraction than the average bunch width is decreased. Thereby the electron density is reduced which results in a lower loss rate of electrons. This improves the beam lifetime and reduces induced radioactivity of accelerator components and shielding. With an increased energy spread and a reduced emittance, the contribution of the dispersion to source size becomes more important. By carefully choosing the magnet optics, the brilliance at the source point can be improved simultaneously to increasing the lifetime. Simulations indicate that a RW is able to increase the lifetime in the standard user operation mode at the MLS by a factor of 2.3, corresponding to an increase in photon flux for one standard user run of approximately 30 %.

In laser wakefield acceleration, an ultra-short high-intensity laser pulse excites a plasma wave, which can sustain accelerating electric fields of several hundred GV/m. This scheme advances a novel concept for compact and less expensive electron accelerators, which can be hosted in a typical university size laboratory. Furthermore, laser wakefield accelerators (LWFA) feature unique electron bunch characteristics, namely micrometer size with duration ranging from several fs to tens of fs. Precise knowledge of the longitudinal profile of such ultra-short electron bunches is essential for the design of future table-top X-ray light-sources and remains a big challenge due to the resolution limit of existing diagnostic techniques. Spectral measurement of broadband coherent and incoherent transition radiation (TR) produced when electron bunches passing through a metal foil is a promising way to analyze longitudinal characteristics of these bunches. Due to the limited reproducibility of the electron source this measurement highly requires single-shot capability. An ultra-broadband spectrometer combines the TR spectrum in UV/NIR (200-1000 nm), NIR (0.9-1.7 µm) and mid-IR (1.6-12 µm). A high spectral sensitivity, dynamic bandwidth and spectral resolution are realized by three optimized dispersion and detection systems integrated into a single-shot spectrometer. A complete characterization and calibration of the spectrometer have been done concerning wavelengths, relative spectral sensitivities, and absolute photometric sensitivities, also taking into account for the light polarization. The TR spectrometer is able to characterize electron bunches with charges as low as 1pC and can resolve time-scales of 0.4 fs. Electron bunches up to 16 fs (rms width) can be reconstructed from their TR spectrum. In the presented work, the self-truncated ionization induced injection (STII) scheme has been explored to study the relevant beam parameters especially its longitudinal bunch profile and the resulting peak current.

GeV electron bunches accelerated on a centimeter scale device exemplify the extraordinary advances of laser-plasma acceleration. The combination of high charges from optimized injection schemes and intrinsic femtosecond short bunch duration yields kiloampere peak currents. Further enhancing the current while reducing the energy spread will pave the way for future application, e.g. the driver for compact secondary radiation sources such as high-field THz, high-brightness x-ray or gamma-ray sources. One essential key for beam transport to a specific application is an electron bunch with high quality beam parameters such as low energy spread as well as small divergence and spot size. The inherent micrometer size at the plasma exit is typically sufficient for an efficient coupling into a conventional beamline. However, energy spread and beam divergence require optimization before the beam can be transported efficiently. Induced by the high peak current, the beam loading regime can be used in order to achieve optimized beam parameters for beam transport. / In this thesis, the impact of beam loading on the transverse electron dynamic is systematically studied by investigating betatron radiation and electron beam divergence. For this reason, the bubble regime with self-truncated ionization injection (STII) is applied to set up a nanocoulomb-class laser wakefield accelerator. The accelerator is driven by 150TW laser pulses from the DRACO high power laser system. A supersonic gas jet provides a 3mm long acceleration medium with electron densities from 3 × 10^18 cm^−3 to 5 × 10^18 cm^−3. The STII scheme together with the employed setup yields highly reproducible injections with bunch charges of up to 0.5 nC. The recorded betatron radius at the accelerator exit is about one micron and reveals that the beam size stays at the same value. The optimal beam loading, which is observed at around 250 pC to 300 pC, leads to the minimum energy spread of ~40MeV and a 20% smaller divergence. It is demonstrated that an incomplete betatron phase mixing due to the small energy spread can explain the experimentally observed minimum beam divergence.