Die Systemkorruption in Rumänien

Die Forschungsarbeit setzt sich intensiv mit dem Phänomen Politische Korruption auseinander, widerspiegelnd in den historischen Ursachen und aktuellen Auswirkungen am Beispiel des jungen EU-Mitglieds Rumänien. Der erste Präsident der neuen rumänischen Republik nach der Revolution von Winter 1989, ist bis in die beginnenden ´80er Jahre ein enger Freund und Vertrauter des totalitären Clans Nicolae Ceausescus: Ion Iliescu. Nach Jahrzehnten politischen Gleichschritts, zerbricht das geistige Bündnis an immer unterschiedlicher werdenden Überlegungen zur Staatsdoktrin. Zwar gelingt Iliescu mit dem Sturz der sozialistischen Diktatur eine scheinbare Wende des politischen Systems einzuleiten. Spätestens mit den Studenten- und Intellektuellenunruhen und ihrer brutalen Niederschlagung im Frühjahr 1990, wird jedoch die eigentliche Motivation auf das, noch interimistische, Präsidentenamt sichtbar. Iliescu installiert ein polydemokratisches Mehrparteiensystem, in dem seine politische Organisation ‚Front der Nationalen Rettung‘ als Alleinherrscherin agiert. Nach einem propagandistisch geführten Wahlkampf, bekleidet Ion Iliescu mit rund 80-prozentiger Zustimmung durch die rumänischen Bürger nun offiziell das Amt des Staatspräsidenten. Durch eine geschickte Gesetzesausgestaltung wird Ende 1991 eine neue Verfassung ausgerufen, die dem Präsidenten auf Umwegen zur Installation seiner eigenen, Vierten Staatsgewalt verhilft. Politische Korruption spielt hier direkt mit der Schaffung einer neuen, post-sozialistischen Elite zusammen, angeführt und gesteuert von Iliescus hochrangigem Umfeld. Demnach gelangt der politische Ziehsohn Adrian Nastase im Jahr 2000 in die Position des Ministerpräsidenten. Obwohl bei den Parlaments- und Präsidentschaftswahlen von Winter 2004 alles auf ein politisches Fortlaufen der „alten Garde“ hindeutet, kann die Opposition diese für sich entscheiden: erstmals bekleiden die Spitzenkandidaten des liberalen Parteienbündnisses das Amt des Präsidenten und seines Premiers. Schließlich endet der Einfluss der Vierten Gewalt in ihrer Abwahl: im Blickwinkel des damals bevorstehenden Beitritts zur Europäischen Union durchbricht die Zivilgesellschaft alte, festgefahrene Traditionen auf demokratischem Weg. Sie ist die unterstützende Hand eines sich im sozialen, wirtschaftlichen und politischen Wandel und Aufbruch befindlichen, jungen Staates

Concept for improving the form measurement results of aspheres and freeform surfaces in a tilted-wave interferometer

Accurate and flexible form measurements for aspherical and freeform surfaces are in high demand, and non-null-test interferometric methods such as tilted-wave interferometry have gained attention as a promising response to this need. Interferometric methods, however, display ambiguities between the measurement of certain form errors and the misalignment of the measured specimen. Therefore, improved knowledge of the absolute measurement position of the specimen in relation to the interferometer setup may improve the form measurement result. In this work, we propose a concept that uses a white light interferometer to measure the absolute distance between a transparent specimen's surface and the interferometer's objective and present preparatory data to qualify the white light interferometer for the improvement of tilted-wave interferometer measurements.</p

Schriftenschau

In der Schriftenschau zum Kochia-Band 1 werden 14 für die Flora von Deutschland relevante Neuerscheinungen aus den Jahren 2005 bis 2006 besprochen

A Primer on Energy Conditions

An energy condition, in the context of a wide class of spacetime theories (including general relativity), is, crudely speaking, a relation one demands the stress- energy tensor of matter satisfy in order to try to capture the idea that “energy should be positive”. The remarkable fact I will discuss in this paper is that such simple, general, almost trivial seeming propositions have profound and far-reaching import for our understanding of the structure of relativistic spacetimes. It is therefore especially surprising when one also learns that we have no clear understanding of the nature of these conditions, what theoretical status they have with respect to fundamental physics, what epistemic status they may have, when we should and should not expect them to be satisfied, and even in many cases how they and their consequences should be interpreted physically. Or so I shall argue, by a detailed analysis of the technical and conceptual character of all the standard conditions used in physics today, including examination of their consequences and the circumstances in which they are believed to be violated

Electroluminescence and current-voltage measurements of single (In,Ga)N/GaN nanowire light-emitting diodes in the nanowire ensemble

We present the combined analysis of the electroluminescence (EL) as well as the current-voltage (I-V) behavior of single, freestanding (In,Ga)N/GaN nanowire (NW) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in an unprocessed, self-assembled ensemble grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The data were acquired in a scanning electron microscope equipped with a micromanipulator and a luminescence detection system. Single NW spectra consist of emission lines originating from different quantum wells, and the width of the spectra increases with decreasing peak emission energy. The corresponding I-V characteristics are described well by the modified Shockley equation. The key advantage of this measurement approach is the possibility to correlate the EL intensity of a single NW LED with the actual current density in this NW. This way, the external quantum efficiency (EQE) can be investigated as a function of the current in a single NW LED. The comparison of the EQE characteristic of single NWs and the ensemble device allows a quite accurate determination of the actual number of emitting NWs in the working ensemble LED and the respective current densities in its individual NWs. This information is decisive for a meaningful and comprehensive characterization of a NW ensemble device, rendering the measurement approach employed here a very powerful analysis tool

Nonmechanical parfocal and autofocus features based on wave propagation distribution in lensfree holographic microscopy

Performing long-term cell observations is a non-trivial task for conventional optical microscopy, since it is usually not compatible with environments of an incubator and its temperature and humidity requirements. Lensless holographic microscopy, being entirely based on semiconductor chips without lenses and without any moving parts, has proven to be a very interesting alternative to conventional microscopy. Here, we report on the integration of a computational parfocal feature, which operates based on wave propagation distribution analysis, to perform a fast autofocusing process. This unique non-mechanical focusing approach was implemented to keep the imaged object staying in-focus during continuous long-term and real-time recordings. A light-emitting diode (LED) combined with pinhole setup was used to realize a point light source, leading to a resolution down to 2.76 μm. Our approach delivers not only in-focus sharp images of dynamic cells, but also three-dimensional (3D) information on their (x, y, z)-positions. System reliability tests were conducted inside a sealed incubator to monitor cultures of three different biological living cells (i.e., MIN6, neuroblastoma (SH-SY5Y), and Prorocentrum minimum). Altogether, this autofocusing framework enables new opportunities for highly integrated microscopic imaging and dynamic tracking of moving objects in harsh environments with large sample areas

Continuous Live-Cell Culture Imaging and Single-Cell Tracking by Computational Lensfree LED Microscopy

Continuous cell culture monitoring as a way of investigating growth, proliferation, and kinetics of biological experiments is in high demand. However, commercially available solutions are typically expensive and large in size. Digital inline-holographic microscopes (DIHM) can provide a cost-effective alternative to conventional microscopes, bridging the gap towards live-cell culture imaging. In this work, a DIHM is built from inexpensive components and applied to different cell cultures. The images are reconstructed by computational methods and the data are analyzed with particle detection and tracking methods. Counting of cells as well as movement tracking of living cells is demonstrated, showing the feasibility of using a field-portable DIHM for basic cell culture investigation and bringing about the potential to deeply understand cell motility

Erosion of carbonate-bearing sedimentary rocks may close the alkalinity budget of the Baltic Sea and support atmospheric CO2 uptake in coastal seas

High alkalinity values observed in coastal seas promote the uptake of CO2 from the atmosphere. However, the alkalinity budget of coastal areas and marginal seas is poorly understood, even though some of the recently observed alkalinity enhancement can be ascribed to riverine fluxes and anaerobic processes in shelf sediments. Here, we investigate the alkalinity budget of the Baltic Sea to identify previously unrecognized alkalinity sources. We quantify the generation of alkalinity and dissolved calcium (Ca) in this marginal sea applying simple mass balance calculations. Using this approach, we identify alkalinity and Ca sources of approximately 324 Gmol yr-1 and 122 Gmol yr-1, respectively, that cannot be ascribed to the riverine input. The magnitude of the Ca source suggests that a major fraction of the excess alkalinity (244 Gmol yr-1) is induced by the dissolution of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). A review of available field data shows that carbonate-bearing rocks at the coast and the seabed of the Baltic Sea are rapidly eroded and may provide sufficient CaCO3 to close the Ca budget. Hence, dissolution of eroded CaCO3 is the most likely source for the Ca enrichment observed in Baltic Sea water. This hypothesis is supported by mass accumulation rates of sediments derived from radioisotope data that are evaluated to derive a basin-wide rate of mud to muddy sand accumulation at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. The resulting value (139 Tg yr-1) exceeds current estimates of riverine particle fluxes into the Baltic Sea by more than one order of magnitude and confirms that rates of till erosion are sufficiently high to account for the Ca and most of the alkalinity excess in Baltic Sea water. Finally, we show that deliberate addition of CaCO3 to sediments deposited in the Baltic Sea could neutralize significant amounts of CO2 and help to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in the Baltic region

The twilight of the Liberal Social Contract? On the Reception of Rawlsian Political Liberalism

This chapter discusses the Rawlsian project of public reason, or public justification-based 'political' liberalism, and its reception. After a brief philosophical rather than philological reconstruction of the project, the chapter revolves around a distinction between idealist and realist responses to it. Focusing on political liberalism’s critical reception illuminates an overarching question: was Rawls’s revival of a contractualist approach to liberal legitimacy a fruitful move for liberalism and/or the social contract tradition? The last section contains a largely negative answer to that question. Nonetheless the chapter's conclusion shows that the research programme of political liberalism provided and continues to provide illuminating insights into the limitations of liberal contractualism, especially under conditions of persistent and radical diversity. The programme is, however, less receptive to challenges to do with the relative decline of the power of modern states