Synthesis and characterization of mesoporic materials containing highly dispersed cobalt

Highly dispersed Co particles in MCM-41 were prepared by direct addition of CoCl2 to the synthesis gel. The small clusters of Co did not sinter during reduction and sulfidation. Incorporation of Co into the MCM-41 lattice was not observed. The addition of Co to the synthesis gel did not alter the structural characteristics of the MCM-41 samples

Liquid phase hydrogenation of crotonaldehyde over Pt/SiO2 catalysts

The dependence of the catalytic properties of Pt/SiO2 catalysts for the hydrogenation of crotonaldehyde on the hydrogen pressure, the reaction temperature, the nature of the solvent and the presence of several additives were investigated. Strong deactivation of the catalysts mainly caused by decarbonylation of crotonaldehyde and irreversible adsorption of CO was observed. The initial activity of the deactivated catalysts is regained by oxidation of the adsorbed CO to CO2 by purging with air. The selectivity to crotylalcohol increased with increasing number of turnovers per metal site. This is explained with preferential blocking of the nonselective sites on the metal crystallites by CO and by a slow surface modification of the aging catalyst with organic deposits. The overall rate and the selectivity to the saturated aldehyde are markedly enhanced by an increase in hydrogen pressure and by a decrease in reaction temperature. The addition of modifiers such as potassium acetate, triphenylphosphine and thiophene had only little influence on the activity and the selectivity of the catalysts

Coordinates, modes and maps for the density functional

Special bases of orthogonal polynomials are defined, that are suited to expansions of density and potential perturbations under strict particle number conservation. Particle-hole expansions of the density response to an arbitrary perturbation by an external field can be inverted to generate a mapping between density and potential. Information is obtained for derivatives of the Hohenberg-Kohn functional in density space. A truncation of such an information in subspaces spanned by a few modes is possible. Numerical examples illustrate these algorithms.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figure

German \u27Mittelstand\u27 and Digitisation: Preliminary results investigating promoted business literature on XING (20)

The original research for the DBA dissertation is based on the author\u27s previous investigation within the literature concerning the topic of \u27social media\u27, showing that there seems to be a great need particularly for SMEs to implement \u27social media\u27. How do companies decide whether to use social media if the management possibly lacks the expertise or capability? The attention for the underlying literature framework is focused on the management, as the hub linked with the topics of \u27Mittelstand in Germany\u27, \u27social media\u27 and \u27decision-making\u27. The research aims to provide a deeper understanding concerning how management in German \u27Mittelstand\u27 today is influenced when deciding whether to use social media. This paper presents preliminary results of the aforementioned research, namely an investigation concerning the promoted business literature of 2016 in Germany\u27s largest networking website for business professionals, XING.Articles under investigation are concerned with the topics \u27Mittelstand\u27 and/or \u27social media\u27 (\u27digitisation\u27)

Towards Cloud-supported Automotive Software Development and Test

The development of automotive software has been an evolving process for the last decades. As a result, the paradigm of software development which is independent of the target hardware platform has been adopted in almost all parts of the automotive industry. Deploying software to a hardware platform is now controlled by an enormous parameter set stored in a mapping configuration. This led to the creation of numerous vendor-specific tools for electronic control unit (ECU) development. While this approach simplifies and supports the re-usability of vehicle functions it also increases the complexity as well as the difficulty for integration tests and error localization. In this paper, we present a conceptual platform which allows to establish references between different development and test phase items in a developer-friendly way. It revolves around two self-developed tools supported by an extensive AUTOSAR knowledge base. The system creates inter-connectivity so that it becomes easier to locate the actual origin of a misbehavior or to find a test error manifestation in the actual end system for developers and testers alike

A European perspective on the US plans for a destination based cash flow tax

The Republican majority in the US House of Representatives is considering the introduction of a destination based cash flow tax (DBCFT). While its global implementation has the potential of substantially increasing welfare, a unilateral introduction of such a tax system raises a range of questions due to the co-existence with source based taxation systems abroad. We consider the US tax plans from an EU perspective. We show that European exporters may suffer, but European firms with affiliation in the US may benefit from a switch to the DBCFT. American multinational firms with affiliates in the EU will be the likely losers of this policy – a surprising finding given President Trump’s “America first!” rhetoric. Finally, tax competition over profits, IP location and investment will further intensify, which will require policy reactions by the EU and its member countries far beyond the implementation of the OECD BEPS project. We will therefore also discuss the legal and economic implications of possible adjustments in EU tax systems

Deutsche Unternehmenssteuerbelastung im internationalen Steuerwettbewerb

Deutschland befindet sich inmitten einer intensiven Debatte über die Unternehmensbesteuerung, deren treibende Kraft der internationale Steuerwettbewerb ist. Sind die Unternehmenssteuern in Deutschland tatsächlich zu hoch? Wie sollte eine Reform der Unternehmensbesteuerung ausgestaltet sein? --

Variable Ultra-broadband and Narrowband Composite Polarization Retarders

We propose and experimentally demonstrate novel types of composite sequences of half-wave and quarter-wave polarization retarders, either permitting operation at ultra-broad spectral bandwidth or narrow bandwidth. The retarders are composed of stacked standard half-wave retarders and quarter-wave retarders of equal thickness. To our knowledge, these home-built devices outperform all commercially available compound retarders, made of several birefringent materials.Comment: 5 figures, 9 page

BUILD YOUR CITY! – ENGAGING CITIZENS IN CROWDFUNDING PROJECTS

Crowdfunding has become an increasingly popular financing instrument. Research in the field of crowdfunding mainly focusses on broadening access to finance for businesses, in particular young and innovative companies and SMEs. Our study looks beyond the potential of crowdfunding for businesses and focuses on crowdfunding as a digital government strategy. Applying insights from the literature on relationship marketing, donation behavior and crowdfunding, we develop a structural model which contains trust towards a city, commitment towards a city and the intention to fund a crowdfunding project initiated by a city as its core elements. Based on an online survey, we find that trust towards a city has a positive impact on commitment towards a city and that commitment towards a city has a positive impact on the intention to contribute to a city’s crowdfunding campaign. Certain benefits individuals perceive during a crowdfunding campaign (demonstrable, familial and societal benefits) have a positive impact on the commitment towards a city. Finally, communication has a positive impact on trust towards a city. Our study contributes to the literature on digital government, crowdfunding and relationship marketing and has practical implications. From our results, we derive specific recommendations for cities