Standard forms of construction contracts in Romania

Construction industry in Romania is under pressure to modernize in order to cope with the new demands of development and convergence with EU. Contractual procedures in construction have to become an integral part in this process of modernization. The article makes an introduction to the advantages of standard forms of contract and professional contract administration in construction and presents the current state-of-the art in the use of standard construction contracts in Romania. Some practical conclusions and recommendations are presented considering the need for further contract studies

The myth of urbanization through industrialization

The article explores the future of urbanization in Romania and the links between urbanization and industrialization and their corresponding development policies. It offers an overview regarding the historical process and changes which occurred in the state and approach of planning, discussing the intense socialist urbanization through industrialization, but also today’s situation regarding the stagnating urban development and planning as well as the perspectives regarding the integrated planning approach in a wider EU context. The article concludes that even if today industrialization is no longer equivalent with urbanization, the (national) industrialization strategies must include the debate regarding integrated urban development

Despre inovare. Working paper

Innovation is at the heart of social and economic development. Although an important sector that generates products and services of high social and economic importance, construction sector is considered to be an underachiever in terms of innovation. This working paper briefly explores the state of innovation within construction sector, considering European tendencies, theoretical and practical developments and challenges raised by particular characteristic of construction products. Some preliminary conclusions are underlined as the basis for further extensive research

Old and New in Vama Veche and 2 Mai

The article uses as a pretext the doctoral research work belonging to one of the authors (Tascu-Stavre, 2011), a study preoccupied with the institutional transformation of two settlements at the Black Sea. The first section presents the study background and methodology built around the Bloomington School analysis model developed by Elinor Ostrom. Under this model, the research aims to decipher the development trends and specific differences between the two geographically neighboring coastal villages. The second section summarizes the findings of the doctoral thesis and documents the applied nature of the research, as the author was directly involved in the process of re-institutionalization of the development policy in Vama Veche, and therefore had the opportunity to test the applicability of discussed theory in-situ. Starting from the presented material but also from the dilemma of managing the commons, the last section adds some comments attached to the relation between development and urban development, emphasizing the importance of the latter both as common (space) as well as a resource which requires technical and ethical management

Thin Film Fabrication by Pulsed Laser Deposition from TiO2 Targets in O2, N2, He, or Ar for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Active semiconductor layers of TiO2 were synthesized via pulsed laser deposition in He, N2, O2, or Ar to manufacture DSSC structures. As-prepared nanostructured TiO2 coatings grown on FTO were photosensitized by the natural absorption of the N719 (Ruthenium 535-bis TBA) dye to fabricate photovoltaic structures. TiO2 photoanode nanostructures with increased adsorption areas of the photosensitizer (a combination with voluminous media) were grown under different deposition conditions. Systematic SEM, AFM, and XRD investigations were carried out to study the morphological and structural characteristics of the TiO2 nanostructures. It was shown that the gas nature acts as a key parameter of the architecture and the overall performance of the deposited films. The best electro-optical performance was reached for photovoltaic structures based on TiO2 coatings grown in He, as was demonstrated by the short-circuit current (Isc) of 5.40 mA, which corresponds to the higher recorded roughness (of 44 ± 2.9 nm RMS). The higher roughness is thus reflected in a more efficient and deeper penetration of the dye inside the nanostructured TiO2 coatings. The photovoltaic conversion efficiency (η) was 1.18 and 2.32% for the DSSCs when the TiO2 coatings were deposited in O2 and He, respectively. The results point to a direct correlation between the electro-optical performance of the prepared PV cells, the morphology of the TiO2 deposited layers, and the crystallinity features, respectively