Die Geburt von Nietzsches Sprachauffassung

Dies ist eine übersetzte und überarbeitete Fassung der Einleitung meiner Dissertation mit dem Titel "Símbolo e Alegoria; a gênese da concepção da linguagem em Nietzsche", Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brasil, 2003. (zu Deutsch etwa: "Symbol und Gleichnis. Die Genese Nietzsches Sprachkonzeption"). In dieser Arbeit gebe ich eine Zusammenfassung meiner Doktorarbeit hinsichtlich der Genese von Nietzsches frühen Überlegungen über die Sprache

Blattanteil und Blattmasseertrag bei den Luzerne- und Rotkleesorten unter verschiedenen Umweltbedingungen

Die Schweine-und Geflügelfütterung im ökologischen Landbau steht vor der großen Herausforderung die vollständige Eiweißversorgung aus ökologischen Quellen zu gewährleisten. Hochqualitatives Blatteiweiß kann durch Separierung der Blatt- und Stängelmasse der kleinkörnigen Leguminosen gewonnen werden und einen Beitrag zum Schließen der aktuellen Eiweißlücke leisten. Das interdisziplinäre Projekt „Gruenlegum“ zielt darauf ab, den Landwirten Produktionsempfehlungen entlang der gesamten Produktionskette zu geben. Beginnend von der Sortenwahl und der Saat über die Produktion von "Gesamtpflanzen-Silage aus früher Nutzung“ oder „Trockenblatt“ (getrocknete Blattmasse) bis hin zu Fütterungsalternativen zu bestehenden Rationen. An sieben Standorten in Deutschland, die hinsichtlich ihrer klimatischen Bedingungen variierten, wurden Luzerne- und Rotkleeganzpflanzen aus dem 3. Schnitt entnommen und mittels Windsichter jeweils in eine Blatt-und eine Stängelfraktion getrennt. Anschließend wurden die Blattanteile bestimmt und die Blattmasseerträge geschätzt

Essays in Labor Economics and Labor Market Policy

The thesis 'Essays in Labor Economics and Labor Market Policy' contributes to the existing literature by advancing our understanding of the forces that have shaped labor market outcomes in recent decades. It consists of three independent research papers, which zoom in on the effects of financial frictions, routine-biased technical change, and judge ideology, respectively. My coauthors and I employ both empirical and analytical methods to analyze the underlying mechanisms and discuss appropriate policy implications. Chapter 2 of this thesis explores the joint role of imperfections in labor and financial markets for the cyclical adjustment of the labor market. I show that jobless recoveries emerge when, upon exiting a recession, firms are faced with deteriorating credit conditions. On the financial side, collateral requirements affect the cost of borrowing for firms. On the employment side, hiring frictions and wage rigidity increase the need for credit, making the binding collateral constraint more relevant. In a general equilibrium business cycle model with search and matching frictions, I illustrate that tightening credit conditions calibrated from data negatively affect employment adjustments during recovery periods. Wage rigidity substantially amplifies this mechanism, generating empirically plausible fluctuations in employment and output. In Chapter 3 of this thesis, using state-level labor market data, Anna Hartmann and I document a positive relationship between the two phenomena in the U.S.: the decrease in unionization rates has been significantly more pronounced in states with a higher employment share in routine-intensive occupations. Contrary to conventional wisdom, deunionization is mainly driven by large within-industry and within-occupation changes in union membership rates and not only by compositional effects. Building on this observation, we argue that the commonly assumed driver of polarization, routine-biased technical change, is also the main driving force behind the decline in union membership rates. In a model with search and matching frictions where workers choose occupations and endogenously form unions, we illustrate that shifts in the structure of labor demand in favor of low- and high-skill occupations worsen the bargaining position of unions and make participation in collective bargaining less attractive for workers. The ensuing within-industry and within-occupation decline in unionization rates in turn provides incentives for middle-wage workers to switch to low-wage occupations, which further amplifies job market polarization. In Chapter 4 of this thesis, Christian Bredemeier, Anna Hartmann, and I provide evidence on the systematic labor market effects of ideological tendencies of the judiciary, employing broad data on court rulings and labor market outcomes. Our identification strategy uses heterogenous effects of ideological shifts of the U.S. Supreme Court on U.S. district court rulings, which we derive from a theoretical model of judge decision making and document empirically. Exploiting this heterogeneity, we find that an increase in the share of conservative rulings substantially increases the employment rate and promotes labor market fluidity but also contributes to wage stagnation, job market polarization, deunionization, and rising income inequality. Our main empirical results can be rationalized in a search and matching model with wrongful-termination lawsuits

Essays on Macroeconomics and Labor Markets

Over the last decades, the U.S. labor market has changed significantly. These developments can not only be attributed to cyclical components influencing labor market conditions during economic downturns but also partly to important and slow moving structural factors. How do changing labor markets affect workers? Discussing and answering this question is an important task for researchers, not only because labor earnings are a major source of income, making up around 60 percent of household income, but also because workers spent a large part of their lifetime at work, on average 34 hours a week for 38 years of their lives. I contribute to the understanding of changing labor markets by focusing on three specific aspects: technical change, selective hiring, and judicial ideology. While this thesis consists of three independent research papers, they are connected by an overarching focus on firms’ hiring behavior and associated consequences for workers’ employment conditions and opportunities. Chapter 2, which is joint work with Tobias Föll, explores the effect of routine-biased technical change on both the occupational and the union-membership choice of workers and thus analyses the connection between polarization and deunionization. In Chapter 3, I study the connection between involuntary part-time employment, workers’ job mobility, and the role of firms’ hiring behaviour. In Chapter 4, which is joint work with Christian Bredemeier and Tobias Föll, we examine how the ideological composition of the Supreme Court affects labor market conditions for workers in the U.S

A continuous mechanobiological model of lateral inhomogeneous biological surfaces

Thin elastic surfaces containing molecules infuencing the mechanical prop- erties of the surface itself are wide spreaded structures of different scales in biological systems. Prominent examples are bilayer membranes and cell tis- sues. In this paper we present a continuous dynamical model of deforming lateral inhomogeneous surfaces, using the example of biological membranes. In agreement with experimental observations the membrane consists of dif- ferent molecule species undergoing lateral phase separation and influencing the mechanical properties of the membrane. The presented model is based on the minimization of a free energy leading to a coupled nonlinear PDE system of fourth order, related to the Willmore flow and the Cahn-Hilliard equation. First simulations show the development of budding structures from stochas- tic initial conditions as a result of the gradient flow, which is comparable to experimentally observed structures. In our model mechanical properties are described via macroscopic mechanical moduli. However, the qualitative and quantitative relationships of mechanical moduli and the local composi- tion of the membrane are unkown. Since the exact relationship significantly influences the emerging structures, this study motivates the development of techniques allowing for upscaling from the molecular scale

Decarbonisation Strategies Implementing Biochar as a Carbon Capture Technology

The energy system is changing since some years in order to achieve the climate goals from the Paris Agreement which wants to prevent an increase of the global temperature above 2 °C [1]. Decarbonisation of the energy system has become for governments a big challenge and different strategies are being stablished. Germany has set greenhouse gas reduction limits for different years and keeps track of the improvement made yearly. The expansion of renewable energy systems (RES) together with decarbonisation technologies are a key factor to accomplish this objective. This research is done to analyse the effect of introducing biochar, a decarbonisation technology, and study how it will affect the energy system. Pyrolysis is the process from which biochar is obtained and it is modelled in an open-source energy system model. A sensibility analysis is done in order to assess the effect of changing the biomass potential and the costs for pyrolysis. The role of pyrolysis is analysed in the form of different future scenarios for the year 2045 to evaluate the impact when the CO2 emission limit is zero. All scenarios are compared to the reference scenario, where pyrolysis is not considered. Results show that biochar can be used to compensate the emissions from other conventional power plant and achieve an energy transition with lower costs. Furthermore, it was also found that pyrolysis can also reduce the need of flexibility. This study also shows that the biomass potential and the pyrolysis costs can strongly affect the behaviour of pyrolysis in the energy system

Amiloride reduces portal hypertension in rat liver cirrhosis

Objective This study aimed to investigate the effect of amiloride on portal hypertension. Amiloride is known to inhibit Na(+)/H(+) exchangers on activated hepatic stellate cells. Methods Liver cirrhosis in rats was induced by bile duct ligation (BDL) or thioacetamide (TAA) administration. The effects of zymosan for Kupffer cell (KC) activation or a thromboxane (TX) analogue (U46619) were tested in isolated perfused livers of cirrhotic rats and in vivo. Downstream mechanisms were investigated using Rho kinase inhibitor (Y-27632) or amiloride. Acute and chronic effects of amiloride and canrenoate on portal pressure were compared in perfused livers and in vivo. TXB(2) efflux was measured by ELISA. The phosphorylation state of moesin (p-moesin) as an indicator of Rho kinase activity and expression of the thromboxane synthase were assessed by western blot analyses. The activity of hepatic stellate cells was analysed by western blot and staining for alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA). Results In BDL rats, KC activation via zymosan increased portal pressure. This was attenuated by the Rho kinase inhibitor Y-27632. Increased thromboxane efflux following zymosan infusion remained unaltered by Y-27632. The infusion of amiloride attenuated zymosan- and U46619-induced increases in portal perfusion pressure. In vivo, direct administration of amiloride, but not of canrenoate, lowered portal pressure. In TAA and BDL rats, treatment with amiloride for 3 days reduced basal portal pressure and KC-induced increases in portal pressure whereas canrenoate had no effect. In livers of amiloride-treated animals, the phosphorylation state of moesin and the number of alpha-SMA positive cells were reduced. Conclusions Amiloride lowers portal pressure in rat liver cirrhosis by inhibition of intrahepatic vasocontraction. Therefore, patients with cirrhosis and portal hypertension may benefit from amiloride therapy

Ergebnisse einer Umfrage unter Frauenberatungsstellen und Frauennotrufen im bff

Seit 2017 führt der bff das Projekt „Aktiv gegen digitale Gewalt“ durch. Das Projekt will sensibilisieren, intervenieren und weiterbilden. Cybergewalt als Ausdruck geschlechtsspezifischer Gewalt beschäftigt Frauenberatungsstellen und Frauennotrufe bereits seit mehreren Jahren. „Aktiv gegen digitale Gewalt“ bietet nun die Möglichkeit, Fachwissen und vorhandene Erfahrungen in den Fachberatungsstellen zu bündeln und die bedarfsgerechte Unterstützung von Betroffenen weiterzuentwickeln. Im März 2017 wurde an alle 176 Fachberatungsstellen (Stand März 2017), die dem bff angeschlossen sind, ein Fragebogen versendet. Über 60 Fachberatungsstellen gaben Rückmeldungen zu ihren Erfahrungen mit digitaler Gewalt. Da es im Kontext der Beratung von gewaltbetroffenen Frauen bisher weder einen ausgearbeiteten konzeptionellen noch wissenschaftlichen Begriff von „Digitaler Gewalt“ gibt, lag der Umfrage folgendes Verständnis des Phänomens zugrunde: Mit digitaler Gewalt meinen wir alle Formen von Gewalt, die sich technischer Hilfsmittel und digitaler Medien (Handy, Apps, Internetanwendungen, Mails etc.) bedienen und/oder Gewalt, die im digitalen Raum, z.B. auf Online-Portalen oder sozialen Plattformen stattfindet. Wir gehen davon aus, dass digitale Gewalt nicht getrennt von „analoger Gewalt“ funktioniert, sondern meist eine Fortsetzung oder Ergänzung von Gewaltverhältnissen und -dynamiken darstellt

EU Regulation of Nanobiocides: Challenges in Implementing the Biocidal Product Regulation (BPR)

The Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR) contains several provisions for nanomaterials (NMs) and is the first regulation in the European Union to require specific testing and risk assessment for the NM form of a biocidal substance as a part of the information requirements. Ecotoxicological data are one of the pillars of the information requirements in the BPR, but there are currently no standard test guidelines for the ecotoxicity testing of NMs. The overall objective of this work was to investigate the implications of the introduction of nano-specific testing requirements in the BPR and to explore how these might be fulfilled in the case of copper oxide nanoparticles. While there is information and data available in the open literature that could be used to fulfill the BPR information requirements, most of the studies do not take the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s nanospecific test guidelines into consideration. This makes it difficult for companies as well as regulators to fulfill the BPR information requirements for nanomaterials. In order to enable a nanospecific risk assessment, best practices need to be developed regarding stock suspension preparation and characterization, exposure suspensions preparation, and for conducting ecotoxicological test