The euro – more than just a currency. Bertelsmann Impulse #2015/01

Working together is worthwhile; growing together even more so. After more than 20 years of the single market and 15 years of monetary union, the members of the European Union – once referred to as the European Community – are interwoven. Indeed, they are very closely interconnected. Despite this, in the face of heated debates arising once again over a looming sovereign default by Greece, there is once again an uneasy feeling about having to pay up for the debts of other member states. In Germany, the largest contributor country, the willingness to act in solidarity is steadily decreasing. And this is despite the fact that Germany profits from the euro in many ways. Even in the country with the strongest economy, many are asking themselves whether this is the beginning of the end for the euro zone

Superconducting atomic contacts under microwave irradiation

We have measured the effect of microwave irradiation on the dc current-voltage characteristics of superconducting atomic contacts. The interaction of the external field with the ac supercurrents leads to replicas of the supercurrent peak, the well known Shapiro resonances. The observation of supplementary fractional resonances for contacts containing highly transmitting conduction channels reveals their non-sinusoidal current-phase relation. The resonances sit on a background current which is itself deeply modified, as a result of photon assisted multiple Andreev reflections. The results provide firm support for the full quantum theory of transport between two superconductors based on the concept of Andreev bound states

Coulomb blockade in two island systems with highly conductive junctions

We report measurements on single-electron pumps, consisting of two metallic islands formed by three tunnel junctions in series. We focus on the linear-response conductance as a function of gate voltage and temperature of three samples with varying system parameters. In all cases, strong quantum fluctuation phenomena are observed by a log(k_B T/(2 E_co)) reduction of the maximal conductance, where E_co measures the coupling strength between the islands. The samples display a rich phenomenology, culminating in a non-monotonic behavior of the maximal conductance as a function of temperature

Tensid-induzierte Verformung von Flüssigphasengrenzen für die Herstellung mikroskopisch strukturierter Partikel

In den letzten Jahren wurden sowohl in der Grundlagenforschung als auch in der angewandten Forschung große Anstrengungen unternommen, um die Größe, Form und Oberflächenstruktur von Mikropartikeln zu gestalten und gezielt zu kontrollieren. Dieses Interesse ist darauf zurückzuführen, dass die Morphologie die physikalischen Eigenschaften der Partikel erheblich beeinflusst und bei vielen Anwendungen eine wichtige Rolle spielt. Die steigende Nachfrage nach anwendungsspezifischen Partikeleigenschaften erfordert daher die Erforschung neuartiger Synthesemethoden. In jüngster Zeit wurde der Nutzung von dynamischen Selbstorganisationsprozessen an der Phasengrenze nicht mischbarer Flüssigkeiten als Mittel zur Strukturierung von Partikeln große Aufmerksamkeit geschenkt. Instabilitäten an Flüssigphasengrenzen eignen sich dazu, um Nicht-Gleichgewichtszustände von Emulsionströpfchen zu konservieren und so Nano- und Mikropartikel mit besonderen Formen und Oberflächentexturen herzustellen. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird ein Emulsionssystem untersucht, welches eine gesättigte Fettsäure (Arachidinsäure oder Stearinsäure) in der Öl-Phase und das kationische Tensid Cetyltrimethylammoniumbromid in der umgebenden wässrigen Phase enthält und sich durch die Bildung flüssigkeitsgefüllter Stacheln an der Flüssigphasengrenze auszeichnet. Zunächst wird die Verformung einzelner Emulsionstropfen, die an einer Kapillarspitze hängen, mit Hilfe eines Horizontalmikroskops und digitaler Bildanalyse untersucht. Aus den Tröpfchenprojektionen werden quantitative Formfaktoren abgeleitet und die Einflüsse verschiedener Prozessparameter auf deren zeitliche Entwicklung untersucht. Mithilfe der gewonnenen Erkenntnisse wurden zwei neue Synthesemethoden entwickelt, um Nicht-Gleichgewichtszustände der Emulsionstropfen einzufrieren und dadurch neuartige Partikel mit außergewöhnlichen Morphologien zu erzeugen. Bei der ersten Methode handelt es sich um eine abgewandelte Form der Suspensionspolymerisation, bei der durch das Abschrecken einer heißen Emulsion die Viskosität der Tröpfchen erhöht wird und strukturierte Polystyrolpartikel erhalten werden. Die zweite Methode bedient sich eines Sol-Gel-Prozesses, um Silizium/Titan-Mischoxidpartikel mit dendritischer Oberfläche zu erzeugen. Beide Strategien sind mit einfachster Laborausstattung durchführbar und sind zu größeren Produktionsvolumina skalierbar. Zusammengenommen ergibt sich daraus ein großes Potenzial der morphosynthetisch produzierten Partikel für verschiedene Anwendungen, beispielsweise als hydrophobe Beschichtungen, als Katalysatorträger oder im Bereich der Medizintechnik.In recent years, both fundamental and applied research have devoted a great deal of effort to the design and precise control over microparticle size, shape and surface texture. This interest stems from the fact, that the morphology significantly affects the particles’ physical properties and plays a substantial role in many applications. The ever-increasing demand for application specific particle performance therefore causes a continuous search for new synthesis methods. Recently, considerable attention focused on the use of dynamic self-organization processes at the phase boundary of immiscible liquids as a means to structure particles. Instabilities at liquid phase boundaries are suitable for preserving non-equilibrium states of emulsion droplets, producing nanoparticles and microparticles with special shapes and surface textures. In the present work, an emulsion system exhibiting an interfacial instability that features the formation of fluid-filled spines is studied. The system combines a saturated fatty acid (arachidic acid or stearic acid) in the oil phase and the cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide in the surrounding aqueous phase. First, the deformation of single emulsion droplets hanging on a capillary tip is investigated by means of a horizontal microscope and digital image analysis. Quantitative shape factors are derived from the droplet projections and the influences of several process parameters on their temporal development is studied. Using the knowledge gained, two new synthesis methods are developed to freeze non-equilibrium states of the spinose emulsion droplets and thereby generating novel particles with unusual morphologies. The first method is a modified form of suspension polymerization, in which quenching a hot emulsion increases the viscosity of the droplets, and microstructured polystyrene particles are obtained. The second method makes use of a sol-gel process to generate dendritic Silica/Titania mixed oxide particles with dendritic surface structures. Both strategies require no specialized equipment and have a high potential for upscaling in terms of production volume, making them promising for various applications, including hydrophobic coatings, catalyst supports, tissue engineering and drug delivery

Trimethylenemethane-Ruthenium(II)-Triphos complexes as highly active catalysts for catalytic C—O bond cleavage reactions of lignin model compounds

Ru ready for it yet? The reaction of [Ru(cod)(methallyl)2] with tripodal phosphine ligands of the TRIPHOS-type results in the formation of Ru-trimethylenemethane complexes. Evaluation of their catalytic properties revealed a high activity for hydrogen transfer and C—O cleavage reactions including the hydrogen-free reductive cleavage of 2-aryloxy-1-arylethanols as model compounds for lignin linkages

How Germany Benefits from the Euro in Economic Terms. Policy Brief #2013/01

There can be no doubt about the fact that Germany benefits from the euro in a significant number of ways. For ex-ample, monetary union membership helps to reduce the cost of international trade, and provides protection against excessive exchange rate volatility. This means that even if Germany had to write off a large percentage of the loans that it has made available to the heavily indebted states of southern Europe as part of the various euro rescue measures, the economic advantages of its membership of the monetary union would continue to predominate. Reverting to the deutschmark would thus be disadvantageous even in purely economic terms

Kiri Karl Morgensternile, Berlin

http://tartu.ester.ee/record=b1841354~S1*es

Модернизация автоматизированной системы управления подстанцией 500 кВ Холмогорская

Модернизация АСУ ТП ПС Холмогорская 500 кВ до первой, второй и третьей архитектуры цифровой подстанцииModernization of the automated control system of the Kholmogorskaya 500 kV substation to the first, second and third digital substation architectur