7,418 research outputs found
Legitimacy Conditions for a European Civil Code
legitimacy; multilevel governance; competition policy; subsidiarity; judicial review; European Court of Justice
Development of a framework for the design of minimum processing strategies which guarantee food quality and safety - Principles, concepts and recommendations for the future
Principles of processing of organic and âlow inputâ food have been analysed in the EU funded QLIF project. A literature survey showed that some of the principles are generally accepted (e.g. the use of certified organic ingredients, a certified production chain and minimal use of additives), others are shared broadly (e.g. more careful processing methods, naturalness) and some principles are in discussion mainly in the private sector (e.g. environmental management concepts, social requirements, regional focus). Recent studies showed that consumer associate organic food with the following dimensions/attributes: health, high quality, the use of natural raw materials, welfare orientated animal husbandry as well as environmentally friendly land use and processing techniques. The challenge will be to consider such wider consumer perceptions and expectations, in particular when revising the EU regulation No 2092/91 on organic food and farming. In the current draft for revised regulation, agreed generally by the EU Council on 19-20 December 2006, some of these elements are included, but not all. How detailed such aspects should be regulated in implementation rules is seen quite differentiated by processors and non-processors which were asked in a Delphi Survey, depending on the different areas. At the EU regulatory level, the top priority mentioned was the minimal use of additives, followed by minimal and careful processing. Quality/sensory aspects, however, were not seen as primary objectives at the EU level, because companies should have the chance to develop individual sensorial profiles for their products. However, regarding the minimum use of additives this is clearly perceived to be an EU level issue. There is also a tendency to prefer additives of certified organic origin, both among âprocessorsâ as well as ânon-processorsâ points of view. The challenge in the future will be to develop regulations with the right balance between authenticity, health orientation and convenience to maintain the confidence of consumers and credibility of the products in the use minimum and careful processing strategies permitted under organic farming standards
Spectropolarimetry of the borderline Seyfert 1 galaxy ESO 323-G077
We report the detection of high linear polarization in the bright Seyfert 1
galaxy ESO 323-G077. Based on optical spectropolarimetry with FORS1 at the VLT
we find a continuum polarization which ranges from 2.2 % at 8300A to 7.5 % at
3600A. Similar amounts of linear polarization are found for the broad emission
lines, while the narrow lines are not polarized. The position angle of the
polarization is independent of the wavelength and found to be perpendicular to
the orientation of the extended [OIII] emission cone of this galaxy. Within the
standard model of Seyfert nuclei the observations can be well understood
assuming that this AGN is observed at an inclination angle where the nucleus is
partially obscured and seen mainly indirectly in the light scattered by dust
clouds within or above the torus and the illuminated inner edge of the dust
torus itself. Hence we conclude that ESO 323-G077 is a borderline Seyfert 1
galaxy which can provide important information on the geometric properties of
active nuclei
Random trees in queueing systems with deadlines
AbstractWe survey our research on scheduling aperiodic tasks in real-time systems in order to illustrate the benefits of modelling queueing systems by means of random trees. Relying on a discrete-time single-server queueing system, we investigated deadline meeting properties of several scheduling algorithms employed for servicing probabilistically arriving tasks, characterized by arbitrary arrival and execution time distributions and a constant service time deadline T. Taking a non-queueing theory approach (i.e., without stable-stable assumptions) we found that the probability distribution of the random time sT where such a system operates without violating any task's deadline is approximately exponential with parameter λT = 1ΌT, with the expectation E[sT] = ΌT growing exponentially in T. The value ΌT depends on the particular scheduling algorithm, and its derivation is based on the combinatorial and asymptotic analysis of certain random trees. This paper demonstrates that random trees provide an efficient common framework to deal with different scheduling disciplines and gives an overview of the various combinatorial and asymptotic methods used in the appropriate analysis
Le projet dâun code civil europĂ©en et la Constitution europĂ©enne
Le projet dâun code civil europĂ©en a Ă©tĂ© dĂ©battu jusquâici surtout dans une optique privatiste et comparatiste. Lâauteur adopte ici une perspective diffĂ©rente : celle de lâencadrement dĂ©jĂ existant du droit privĂ© dans le systĂšme communautaire qui peut ĂȘtre appelĂ©, avec la Cour de justice de Luxembourg, la « Constitution europĂ©enne ». Bien que les influences entre Constitution europĂ©enne et droit privĂ© soient pour une large part bĂ©nĂ©fiques, un phĂ©nomĂšne fortement nĂ©gatif ne saurait ĂȘtre ignorĂ© : celui de lâinstrumentalisation du droit privĂ© pour des objectifs collectifs, le MarchĂ© commun en premier lieu. Dans cette situation, un avantage important dâun code civil europĂ©en sâimpose : son potentiel, ignorĂ© jusquâici, de limiter les dangers de lâinstrumentalisation, en confĂ©rant au droit privĂ© une voix propre parmi les disciplines juridiques europĂ©ennes.The project of a European civil code has until now been discussed mostly from a private and comparative law point of view. In this paper, the author adopts a novel perspective : that of the already existing embed-dedness of private law in the Community system, which may be called, in the words of the European Court of Justice, the « European Constitution ». Whilst the interactions between the European Constitution and private law are mostly beneficial, a strongly negative phenomenon should not be overlooked, namely that of the instrumentalization of private law for Community interests, in particular the Common Market. Against this background, an important advantage of a European Civil Code becomes visible : its potential, until now unnoticed, to limit the dangers of instrumentalization by giving private law a voice of its own among European legal disciplines
Searching atomic spin contrast on nickel oxide (001) by force microscopy
The (001) surface of NiO, an antiferromagnet at room temperature, was
investigated under ultra-high vacuum conditions with frequency modulation
atomic force microscopy (FM-AFM). The antiferromagnetic coupling between ions
leads to a spin superstructure on (001) surfaces. Exchange interaction between
the probe of a force microscope and the NiO (001) surface should allow to image
spin superstructures in real space. The surface was imaged with three different
probing tips: nonmagnetic W tips, ferromagnetic Co tips and antiferromagnetic
NiO tips - and atomic resolution was achieved with all three of them in various
distance regimes and in several channels. Evidence for spin contrast was
obtained in experiments that utilize NiO tips and oscillation amplitudes in the
\AA-regime, where optimal signal-to-noise ratio is expected. The spin contrast
is weaker than expected and only visible in Fourier space images.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Physical Review
Mobile Augeninnendruckmessung: Von der Palpation bis zu ersten klinischen Erfahrungen mit dem handgehaltenen dynamischen Konturtonometer
Zusammenfassung: Die Goldmann-Applanationstonometrie gilt immer noch als der Goldstandard der Augeninnendruckmessung und spielt bei der FrĂŒherkennung des Glaukoms eine zentrale Rolle. Die Applanationstonometrie wird normalerweise am sitzenden Patienten an der Spaltlampe durchgefĂŒhrt. Manchmal ist es jedoch notwendig, den Augeninnendruck (IOD) spaltlampenunabhĂ€ngig messen zu können. Mit den handgehaltenen GerĂ€ten wird die Druckmessung ins Krankenzimmer, in den Operationssaal sowie zu Patienten, die nicht in sitzender Position an der Spaltlampe untersuchen werden können, gebracht. Das dynamische Konturtonometer (DCT) stellt eine neue Methode der direkten intraokularen Druckmessung dar. Es arbeitet nach dem Prinzip der piezoelektronischen Konturanpasstonometrie und soll weniger von den biomechanischen Eigenschaften der Hornhaut abhĂ€ngig sein. Neben dem IOD kann auch die okulare Pulsamplitude erfasst werden. Bisher fanden die DCT-Messungen spaltlampenadaptiert statt. Wir prĂ€sentieren einen portablen Prototyp des GerĂ€ts. Im Vergleich mit dem Perkins-Tonometer und dem TONO-PENXL zeigt das handgehaltene DCT eine geringere Intra- und InteruntersuchervariabilitĂ€t. AuĂerdem bietet das GerĂ€t die Möglichkeit, die okulare Pulsamplitude (OPA) in liegender Position zu erfasse
- âŠ