Ruhr-Universitat Bochum Research Articles

Phase Equilibria in Ternary Systems Carbon Dioxide + 1-Hexanol + n-Pentadecane and Carbon Dioxide + 1-Heptanol + n-Pentadecane: Modeling of Holes in Critical Surface and Miscibility Windows

In this paper, the modeling of holes in the critical surface and miscibility windows, in the ternary carbon dioxide + 1-hexanol + n-pentadecane and carbon dioxide + 1-heptanol + n-pentadecane systems, was made. A software for phase equilibrium (PHEQ) data management and applications was used for calculations with the cubic general equation of state (GEOS), developed by the author. The software PHEQ was extended for calculations of critical lines (module GEOS CRITHK), using the Heidemann and Khalil method, and liquid–liquid–vapor (llg) lines (module GEOS LLVE) in binary and ternary mixtures. These modules were used for the calculation of holes in critical surfaces, and of miscibility windows. Binary and quasi-binary measured phase equilibrium data by Scheidgen [Ph.D. Thesis, Ruhr-Universitat Bochum, 1997] were necessary for understanding and modeling of ternary systems, regarding holes in critical surface and miscibility windows. For modeling, the equation of state Soave–Redlich–Kwong, integrated in the cu...

Oxyfuel Combustion – Experimental Investigation of Sorption Effects on Coal Char

Abstract The DFG Collaborative Research Center SFB/TRR129 “Oxyflame” is devoted to developing a fundamental understanding of effects relevant for the combustion of solid fuels in oxyfuel atmospheres. 17 complementary research projects at RWTH Aachen, TU Darmstadt, and Ruhr-Universitat Bochum both numerically and experimentally deal with various aspects on scales reaching from single particles to complete combustion chambers. As part of this framework, this project experimentally addresses the impact of sorption effects on the surface of chars and of the diffusion into pores. Since the adsorption of different components of oxyfuel atmospheres is selective and since the composition of a boundary layer on the surface of char particles is relevant for equilibria and dynamics of heterogeneous reactions during char burnout, selectivities of sorption and effective diffusion coefficients are considered important inputs for the advancement of particle-burnout models. This paper describes results of measurements of the sorption of main components of oxyfuel atmospheres (CO 2 and O 2 ) on char particles. Selectivities are derived from the experimental results. The extrapolation of selectivities to higher temperatures, which is essential for their application in burnout models, is discussed.

Polarized Solid State Target

The polarized solid state target is an indispensable experimental tool to study single and double polarization observables at low intensity particle beams like tagged photons. It was one of the major components of the Crystal-Barrel experiment at ELSA. Besides the operation of the ’CB frozen spin target’ within the experimental program of the Crystal-Barrel collaboration both collaborative groups of the D1 project, the polarized target group of the Ruhr Universitat Bochum and the Bonn polarized target group, have made significant developments in the field of polarized targets within the CRC16. The Bonn polarized target group has focused its work on the development of technically challenging polarized solid target systems towards the so called ’4π continuous mode polarized target’ to operate them in combination with 4π -particle detection systems. In parallel, the Bochum group has developed various highly polarized deuterated target materials and high precision NMR-systems, in the meantime used for polarization experiments at CERN, JLAB and MAMI, too.

Experiments on Symmetrically Reduced Reinforced Concrete Beams

As the competition on realizing larger, thicker and more wide-spanned structural reinforced concrete members continues, questions arise concerning the safety and economic quality of these large structural members implying significant size effects. Due to limitations concerning the experimental infrastructure and due to economic reasons resulting from outstanding time- and material-consuming efforts, there is a remarkable lack of experimental results especially concerning reinforced concrete members with large effective depths. At the Institute of Concrete Structures at the Ruhr-Universitat Bochum, an innovative experimental test setup is developed to enable the multiply requested size effect investigations of larger reinforced concrete members. It focuses on utilizing the symmetry conditions of loading and test members, comparable to the best practice of the discretization procedure in numerical investigations. Thus, beams are halved and slabs quartered. Proportional to the symmetry grade test loads and dead loads pronouncedly decrease giving rise to larger specimen within given testing facilities. Initially designed and configured for testing the punching shear failure of thick reinforced concrete slabs, the setup also enables tests on symmetrically sectioned concrete members like single-span beams loaded in bending or shear. The contribution presents the single steps of the development to test symmetrically bisected reinforced concrete beams, including the modular bearing constructions with sliding planes and back anchorings of the bending reinforcement as well as the concrete specimen itself with interconnections to the symmetry planes, measuring techniques and its specific assembly. The comparison of the results of verification tests on halved beams and corresponding full-size members shows a remarkable accordance and proofs the general applicability in failure modes, crack pattern, yielding and failure loads.

Transient boundary conditions in the frame of THM-processes at nuclear waste repositories

In nuclear waste repositories, initially unsaturated buffer is subjected to constant heat emitted by waste canister in conjunction with peripheral hydration through water from host rock. The transient hydration process can be potraied as transformation of initial heterogeneity towards homogeneity as final stage. In this context, this paper addresses the key issue of hydro mechanical behaviour of compacted buffer in context of clay microstructure and its evolution under repository relevant loading paths and material heterogeneity. This paper also introduces a unique column experiment facility available at Ruhr Universitat Bochum, Germany. The facility has been designed as a forerunner of field scale testing program to simulate the transient hydration process of compacted buffer as per German reference disposal concept. The device is unique in terms of having proficiency to capture the transient material response under various possible repository relevant loading paths with higher precision level by monitor the key parameters like temperature, total suction, water content and axial & radial swelling pressure at three different sections along the length of compacted soil sample. In general, a larger spectrum of loading paths/scenarios, which may arise in the nuclear repository, can be covered precisely with existing device.

Refining questionnaire-based assessment of STEM students’ learning strategies

Learning strategies are considered a key aspect for academic performance not only for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) students. Refining their assessment thus constitutes a worthwhile research purpose. The aim of this study is to examine the 69-item LIST questionnaire (ZDDP 15:185-200, 1994) with the aim of shortening it while keeping its factor structure and thus its potential for describing learning behaviour and for identifying significant changes therein. This includes exploring if reduced scales remain internally reliable, both in terms of reliability measures and content, and to examine if they stay sensitive enough to capture developments in a pre-post design. Our cohorts consist of STEM students (N = 2374) from different engineering courses at Ruhr-Universitat Bochum in Germany, typically predominantly males, some with insufficient background in mathematics or non-native speakers of German. The data was analysed using various statistic methods, e.g. reliability measurement and confirmatory factor analysis. Our findings show that about half of the original items (36 out of 69) are sufficient, reliability holds (Cronbach’s α > 0.7) and more variance is explained (56.17 % as compared to 45.65 %). Most content-related changes occurring when eliminating so many items survive critical scrutiny. The study shows that it is possible to refine and considerably shorten the LIST questionnaire to the effect that all but one factor are kept intact. This will simplify future research enormously. Furthermore, the refined factor structure suggests reconsidering the postulate of metacognition as an easily accessed facet of learning behaviour—thus implying promising research perspectives.

A Report on the 2014 Chime Workshop “Storysinging and Storytelling in China”

From Thursday, October 16, to Sunday, October 19, 2014, the Fondazione Giorgio Cini on the island of San Giorgio in Venice, Italy, was the venue for an international workshop on “Storysinging and Storytelling in China.” It was hosted by CHIME, the European Foundation for Chinese Music Research. Founded early in 1990 and based in Leiden, The Netherlands, CHIME has grown into an independent nonprofit platform for international scholars and students of Chinese ethnomusicology, sinology, and anthropology as well as for journalists, musicians, and teachers. The Venice workshop was jointly coordinated by Frank Kouwenhoven (CHIME) and Dr. Vibeke Bordahl (Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, Copenhagen), and was co-organized and sponsored by the “Istituto Interculturale di Studi Musicali Comparati” of the Fondazione Cini, the University of Roma La Sapienza (Dr. Giovanni Giuriati), the Department of Asian and North African Studies of the Universita Ca’Foscari Venezia (Dr. Nicoletta Pesaro), and the local Confucius Institute. For the occasion, CHIME brought together more than two dozen scholars and performers for an informalmeeting.All activities, including a number of special performances by invited storytellers and storysingers, took place inside the former monastery complex of FondazioneCini, with the exception of a free concertwith storytelling and storysinging performances at theUniversity’sAuditoriumSantaMargherita on Saturday evening. Papers were in English, performances in Chinese, and discussions in English and Chinese. The workshop was also designed to celebrate the lifelong achievements of the prominent scholar and pioneer sinologist in the study of Chinese oral and performing literature, Dr. Ve na Hrdlic kova, from the Czech Republic, who unfortunately was not able to attend the event because of ill health. The organizers also commemorated the inspiring research of Dr. Antoinet Schimmelpennick (1962–2012), co-founder of CHIME, on Chinese folk songs. The presentations addressed a great variety of Chinese performative practices. I list them below under six headings. Ming andQing storytelling and storysinging: Papers under this topic included “Wu Weiye and his ‘Long-poem on Two Masters from Chu’ (Chu liang sheng xing” 楚兩 生行)” (Rudiger Breuer, Ruhr-Universitat Bochum; the two “masters” are Liu Jingting 柳敬亭 and Su Kunsheng 蘇崑生), “Going Abroad in Verse: Hakka and Minnanese Narrative Ballads on Migration and Emigration (guofange 過番歌) of the Late-Imperial and Early-Republican Periods” (Wilt Idema, Harvard University), “Recital of The Precious Scroll of Incense Mountain in the Greater Suzhou Area” CHINOPERL: Journal of Chinese Oral and Performing Literature 34. 2 (December 2015): 166–168

A Required Paradigm Shift in Today’s Vision Research

Christoph von der Malsburg obtained his Ph.D. in Heidelberg on a subject of particle physics. He worked at the Max-Planck-Institut fur biophysikalische Chemie in Gottingen from 1970 until 1987. Since 1988 he was professor of Computer Science at the University of Southern California (USC) and from 1990 he also codirected the Institute fur Neuroinformatik at the Ruhr-Universitat Bochum. Since 2006 he is Senior Fellow at the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS). In his work, he has made important contributions in the areas of pattern recognition and computational neuroscience. KI: You led the Institut fuer Neuroinformatik from 1990 until 2006 at the Ruhr-Universitat Bochum. I remember from the time I was a PhD student in your group that you were traveling between Los Angeles and Bochum back and forth twice a year. Now you are working at the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies. Do you miss Bochum and Los Angeles in any way? Of course I miss them. At that time I had a large group of co-workers in both places. I had a lot of resources that I could use to develop systems. I now essentially work without any resources apart from a computer and an office. But I must say, I am enjoying both types of activity very much. KI: What are you concerned with in your current work? I think I have to collect my thoughts. I staged my life as an attempt to understand the brain and now is cash time. I have to write down my thoughts in a coherent fashion and see how far I have gotten in understanding the brain. KI: Your group was focusing in the first place on the vision problem with the aim to take the human brain as a model. What kind of knowledge about or which aspects of the brain were useful to derive vision algorithms? I think it is very important to know what the natural visual system can do and what it cannot do and, by this, to avoid putting up problems that cannot be solved at all. This is certainly one important kind of influence. The second one is that the brain is different from all of computer work in that it does not have a separate programmer. It starts with an initial condition, which has been developed by evolution, and from then on it is on its own resources. There are two ways it has to solve problems. One is by learning from examples and the other one is by some kind of self-organization or self-interaction in order to create structures that are more self-consistent. And then, of course, studying the brain has to come up with the perspective of a very simple basic data structure, which in the brain is in the form of neurons and their connections and their activity, which can express whatever is to be expressed. This is a drive towards homogeneity and simplicity. I think that is the most important lesson we can learn from the brain. KI: How would you judge the success of your group in retrospective? Well, it is the path and not the goal that is important. I think the group has achieved a lot—number one, of course, in founding careers. There are a number of professorships that arose from my institute and also a large number of students who have found good positions in industry. N. Kruger (&) The Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Institute, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M, Denmark e-mail: norbert@mmmi.sdu.dk

Conference Report Summer School: Social Movements in Global Perspectives – Past, Present and Future

During the summer semester 2014, Stefan Berger and Sabrina Zajak from the Institute for Social Movement (ISB) convened an interdisciplinary summer school at Ruhr-Universitat Bochum, entitled Social Movements in Global Perspectives: Past, Present and Future. The summer school was organised as part of the university’s inSTUDIES programme, aiming at the advancement of teaching and enhancement of individual student profiles. At the heart of the summer school was an international and interdisciplinary conference, which took place in September 2014.

The gastralial apparatus of Plateosaurus engelhardti: morphological description and soft-tissue reconstructio

The fragmentary nature of the fossil record of the gastralial apparatus of sauropodomorph dinosaurs has considerable impact on our understanding its functional morphology and evolution in this group. With the aim of increasing our knowledge on the functional morphology of the gastralial apparatus of sauropodomorph dinosaurs, remains of the gastralial apparatus of Plateosaurus engelhardti are described. Soft-tissues and their function are reconstructed applying the Extant Phylogenetic Bracket, in this instance comprising crocodiles and birds. The gastralial apparatus of Plateosaurus consists of at least 18 gastralial rows. With exception of the 1st row, which has a chevron-shaped medial and two lateral gastralia, the gastralial rows consist of two medial and two lateral gastralia. The lateral gastralia are 2.2 –– 2.8 times longer than the associated medial gastralia. The proximal ends of the medial gastralia overlap in a latticelike arrangement, forming a mid-ventral imbricating articulation. Characteristic for Plateosaurus is the sigmoid form of the medial and lateral gastralia, the increasing angle of the gastralial rows from proximal to distal, as well as the increasing robustness of the gastralia rows from proximal to distal. According to the Extant Phylogenetic Bracket, the gastralial apparatus of Plateosaurus is embedded into M. rectus abdominis, which attaches to the caudal aspect of the sternum and indirectly to the distal end of the pubis. As in extant archosaurs, m. rectus abdominis is closely related to the other muscles of the hypaxial abdominal muscle group. The muscles of the hypaxial abdominal muscle group are active during ventilation and locomotion, which suggests that the functions of the gastralial apparatus of Plateosaurus may be more complex than previously suggested. Regina Fechner. Biomechanics Research Group, Fakultat fur Maschinenbau, Ruhr-Universitat Bochum, Universitatsstrase 150, 44801 Bochum, Germany. fechner@lmk.rub.de Rainer Gosling. Biomechanics Research Group, Fakultat fur Maschinenbau, Ruhr-Universitat Bochum, Universitatsstrase 150, 44801 Bochum, Germany. goessling@lmk.rub.de

CO2Mix Project: Experimental Determination of Thermo Physical Properties of CO2-Rich Mixtures

The CO2Mix project is established in order to fill important knowledge gaps regarding thermophysical properties of CO2-rich mixtures relevant for CCS conditioning and transport. Even small amounts of impurities can have a large effect on these properties and hence on the design of process equipment and flow assurance calculations. Hence, accurate models backed up by experimental data of high quality are required for efficient and safe design and operation of CCS infrastructure and equipment. In the CO2Mix project, SINTEF Energy Research, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and Ruhr-Universitat Bochum (RUB) will perform accurate measurements of phase equilibria, density, and speed of sound. In this paper, the need for measurement of thermo-physical properties will be discussed, and the experimental setups will be described.

Die katholischen Pfarrgemeinden in den USA in Geschichte und Gegenwart: Eine transatlantische Perspektive by Kai Reinhold, and: Katholische Kirche und Gemeindeleben in den USA und in Deutschland: Überraschende Ergebnisse einer ländervergleichenden Umfrage ed. by Kai Reinhold and Matthias Sellmann (review)

Die katholischen Pfarrgemeinden in den USA in Geschichte und Gegenwart:Eine transatlantische Perspektive. By Kai Reinhold. (Munster: Aschendorff. 2011. Pp. 436. euro29,80. ISBN 978-3-402-12893-0.)Katholische Kirche und Gemeindeleben in den USA und in Deutschland: Uberraschende Ergebnisse einer landervergleichenden Umfrage. Edited by Kai Reinhold and Matthias Seilmann. (Munster: Aschendorff. 2011. Pp. 374. euro24,80. ISBN 978-3-402-12888-6.)Many American historians examine U.S. Catholicism in light of European Catholicism, looking to the shores of Europe for insights into the former's history and culture.The recent work of the Crossing Over Project, a transatlantic research initiative sponsored by the Theology Faculty of the Ruhr-Universitat Bochum in Germany,shifts the focus back on U.S.Catholicism from a European perspective.Through the research of Kai Reinhold (Diocese of Essen), the initiative has collaborated with American scholars in the Chicago area, most notably the sociologist James D. Davidson of Purdue University. In 2006 the Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame conducted a new survey on U.S. Catholic life intended to update a national study from the 1980s, employing the aid of Davidson and Princeton Survey Research Associates. Upon learning of this project, Reinhold and his colleagues in Bochum sought to replicate the study for Catholicism in Germany. In particular, German Catholic scholars wanted to understand the dynamism of culture in America so as to revitalize life in Germany. The joint surveys gathered statistical data through phone questionnaires of a thousand registered parishioners in the United States and Germany respectively. The results provided key empirical findings for comparison and analysis on an international level, prompting the publication of the two works under review.The first book is a revision of Reinhold's 2010 dissertation on the historical development of life in American Catholicism.The work speaks to a rising interest among German Catholics in the history of U.S. Catholicism. With this intended audience in mind, Reinhold attempts to fill two lacunae in scholarship: a dearth of works in German on U.S. Catholicism and the absence of a historical narrative of the American Catholic that ventures beyond institutional history to incorporate the story and sensibilities of the parishioners themselves. For this joint task, the author divides the work into two parts. The first addresses the history and post-Second Vatican Council character of the American parish, and the second offers a brief comparative analysis based on the survey outlined above. In many ways, the author's narrative in the first part stems from his research work at the University of Notre Dame, and thus it is little surprise that the reader consistently finds references to the work of Jay Dolan. Reinhold relies almost exclusively on a typology of development published by Dolan and Jeffrey Burns.1 This typology traces a shift from the congregational parish of John Carroll and John England to the devotional parish of immigrant and early-twentieth-century U. …

Internal exposure to carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and DNA damage: a null result in brief

We previously reported DNA strand break frequencies and adduct levels of 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-20-deoxyguanosine (8-oxo-dGuo) in 171 blood samples of coke oven, refractory, graphite electrode, and converter workers exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). Construction workers (n = 48) were used as controls (Marczynski et al. 2009). Internal dose was assessed by the determination of 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP) and the sum of five hydroxyphenanthrenes ( P OHPhe) in post-shift urine samples. Our results clearly indicated increased DNA damage in exposed workers on a group level. The results of the dose–response associations on the individual level, however, did not reveal quantitative correlations between measured exposures and effects. We have discussed several potential reasons for the observed results. In brief, internal exposure and effect was based on single time points (post-shift samples), and kinetics for the formation of 8-oxo-dGuo and DNA strand breaks after exposure to chemical carcinogens such as PAH are not known in detail in humans. The individual exposure circumstances such as varying routes of exposures (dermal vs. inhalation) and potential co-exposures to dust or other chemical compounds at the workplace may have contributed to the dose–response association rather than exposure to PAH alone (Courter et al. 2007). Although PAH can undergo redox cycling and are capable of inducing oxidative DNA damage (Park et al. 2008), DNA strand breaks and 8-oxo-dGuo in blood are general biomarkers of oxidative stress, thus being pathwayspecific rather than substance-specific. Finally, PAH are a complex mixture consisting of carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic compounds and exist in varying profiles in different industries and the environment (Rehwagen et al. 2005; Unwin et al. 2006). 1-OHP and P OHPhe are metabolites of pyrene and phenanthrene, thus representing noncarcinogenic PAH rather than carcinogenic PAH. In order to narrow down the reasons for the lacking association between exposures to PAH and DNA damage on the individual level, we re-analyzed the role of carcinogenic PAH. For this purpose, we focused on benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) and naphthalene. B[a]P is a complete carcinogen and often used as a positive control in bioassays when studying genotoxicity and carcinogenicity of chemical compounds (IARC 2010). In addition, B[a]P has been shown to have the highest enzyme inducing efficiency in the lung and liver of rodents, thus self-enhancing the formation of reactive electrophilic and carcinogenic intermediates during its metabolism (Elovaara et al. 2007; Skupinska et al. 2007). Naphthalene has been shown to be carcinogenic in rodents at high concentrations after inhalation (NTP 2000). Available biomarkers to assess H. U. Kafferlein (&) B. Marczynski J. Angerer H.-P. Rihs B. Pesch T. Bruning Institut fur Pravention und Arbeitsmedizin der Deutschen Gesetzlichen Unfallversicherung, Institut der Ruhr Universitat Bochum (IPA), Burkle-de-la-Camp Platz 1, 44789 Bochum, Germany e-mail: kaefferlein@ipa-dguv.de

Data handling and processing in proteomics

Martin Eisenacher, PhD Medizinisches ProteomCenter (MPC), RuhrUniversitat Bochum, ZKF E.143, Universitatsstrasse 150, D-44801 Bochum, Germany Tel.: +49 234 322 9288 martin.eisenacher@ rub.de “...by providing all suitable proteomics data to public repositories and by subsequent reprocessing of these datasets, one also can obtain more information than from the single experiment, especially when combining datasets...”

Valved brass: the history of an invention

In the history of brass instruments, few developments can rival the early nineteenth-century invention of the valve for enduring significance. Nevertheless, the acceptance of valved brass instruments proved controversial, as newspapers and other documents repeatedly attest. Christian Ahrens, (Ruhr-Universitat Bochum) in his important monograph, Eine Erfindung und ihre Folgen: Blechblasinstrumente mit Ventilen (1986), devotes considerable attention to this heated controversy, as he traces the early use of valved brass instruments in the realms of art music, military music, and Volksmusik. Stressing social and aesthetic issues over the more familiar mechanical aspects, the author draws on a rich body of journalistic source material to detail a compelling reception history.

Nathan und seine Erben: Beiträge zur Geschichte des Toleranzgedankens in der Literatur. Festschrift für Martin Bollacher by Oxana Zielke

MLR, I03. I, 2oo8 269 fromdidactic and bucolic poetry thekind of sentimentalized view of nature that the eighteenth century loved. Atherton does not tell the story of thepoetic reception ofVirgil, the detail of how poets continued to read and find inspiration in theAeneid: that storywould be a less public and perhaps even a subterranean one of thepersisting influence of the 'wielder of the stateliestmeasure I evermoulded by the lips ofman'. Nor is thePentheus story without itsproblems. As Atherton admits, most German philhellenism-there are exceptions such asHolderlin-involved looking atGreece through the lens ofRome: Goethe's Iphigenie, forall its talkof 'das Land der Griechen', speaks a Latinate lan guage. None the less this is an admirable, sophisticated, and rewarding study of an important phenomenon. KING'S COLLEGE LONDON MATTHEW BELL Nathan und seine Erben: Beitrdge zur Geschichte des Toleranzgedankens in der Li teratur.Festschrift furMartin Bollacher. Ed. by OXANA ZIELKE. Wiirzburg: Konigshausen& Neumann. 2005. 195 pp. E36. ISBN 978-3-8260-29go-I. This collection of essays was initiated by the faculty of philology of the Ruhr Universitat Bochum to celebrates the sixty-fifth birthday of their respected colleague Martin Bollacher. Edited byOxana Zielke with the assistance ofThorsten Meier, the volume presents another contribution to theongoing discussion of thenotion of toler ance. Bollacher's lifelong teaching and research returned over and again toquestions of humanity and tolerance. His subjects range fromVoltaire and Lessing toCanetti. The editors note in theirpreface that theyhave attempted to include essays that reflect Bollacher's areas of scholarly interest as well as his contacts with differentcultures: Bollacher has taught at universities in Japan, Korea, India, theUnited States, and elsewhere. The ten essays struggle todefine tolerance. The authors underscore thatwe can no longer operate with a concept of tolerance as defined in the eighteenth century, but insteadmust negotiate definitions that range from tolerance as acceptance or respect to tolerance as a disciplinary or even repressive discourse in the sense ofHorkheimer, Adorno, and Marcuse. For this reason a central concern of the volume is to trace the development of the concept of tolerance that established itself in literarydiscourse with Lessing's Nathan derWeise (I779). The depiction in literature and othermedia of the possibilities and limits of tolerance, especially in the encounter between self and other, is the focus of themajority of the essays. Regina Grundmann demonstrates in the firstcontribution that religious-philoso phical texts ofmedieval Spain thematized and discussed the central question from Nathan der Weise regarding the truth of the three revealed religions. Grundmann investigates the inter-religious concept of tolerance in themagnum opus of Jehuda Halevi, theKusari, which was probably written between I I2o and I 140. She finds thatwithin Jewish theological writings of the Middle Ages therewere clear parallels toLessing's later thought,notmerely in thewritings of Maimonides but also inothers such as those ofHalevi. The three following essays focus on Lessing's Nathan. Jost Schneider discusses Lessing's models of tolerance thatalso contain within themselves theirown limits.Thorsten Meier analyses the failed premiere of theplay in I783 and suggests that the audience's lack of interestwas not due to the drama's theme, as other scholars have proposed, but because its aesthetics were ahead of its time. Paul Gerhard Klussmann's essay carries the subtitle'Lessings Nathan derWeise imDDR Theater'. This issomewhat misleading, sinceKlussmann focuses on the fourstagings at theDeutsches Theater, Berlin. Here a broader discussion ofGDR stagingswould 270 Reviews have been welcome. Although therehas been recentwork along these lines byHans Joachim Kertscher and Thomas Fox, the topic of Lessing in theGDR remains a desideratum for researchers. The last essay of interest to scholars of eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century literature isbyHarro Muiller-Michaels, focusing on Herder and his contemporaries. The second part of the Festschrift will have a special appeal to those concerned with racism,minority discourse, and notions of difference and diversity as presented in twentieth-century literature and other media. The complex interplay of power and otherness informsUwe-K. Ketelsen's excellent essay 'DerWille zur Bewahrung von Differenz'. Ketelsen's study corresponds well with the following contribution on racism and media byManfred Schneider, who presents a thought-provoking analysis of the 'Entgastung' of theJews inEurope. Giinter Ahrends' sessay on ethnic difference in...

The Cultures of Maimonideanism: New Approaches to the History of Jewish Thought

1. The Project of Enlightenment in Islamic-Arabic Culture, Frank Griffel, Yale University 2. From Esotericism to Science: The Account of the Chariot in Maimonidean Philosophy till the End of the Thirteenth Century, Howard Kreisel, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev 3. Competing Approaches to Maimonides in Early Kabbalah, Jonathan Dauber, Yeshiva University 4. Ibn Ezra, a Maimonidean Authority: The Evidence of the Early Ibn Ezra Supercommentaries, Tamas Visi, Palacky University, Olomouc 5. Between Maimonideanism and Averroism: Gersonides' Place within the Maimonidean Paradigm, Roberto Gatti University of Genoa 6. No Perpetual Enemies: Maimonideanism at the Beginning of the Fifteenth Century, Maud Kozodoy, The Jewish Theological Seminary 7. Maimonides' Thirteen Principles: From Elite to Popular Culture, Abraham Melamed The University of Haifa 8. Rabbi Joseph Karo and Sixteenth-Century Messianic Maimonideanism, Mor Altshuler, Carmay Yosef, Israel 9. Maimonideanism in Leon Modena's Ari Nohem, Yaacob Dweck Princeton University 10. The Spectre of Maimonidean Radicalism in the Late Eighteenth Century, Abraham Socher, Oberlin College 11. Counter-Enlightenment in a Jewish Key: Anti-Maimonideanism in Nineteenth-Century Orthodoxy, Michah Gottlieb, New York University 12. Manuel Joel and the Neo-Maimonidean Discovery of Kant, Gorge K. Hasselhoff, Ruhr-Universitat Bochum 13. Maimonides and Ethical Monotheism: The Influence of the Guide of the Perplexed on German Reform Judaism in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century, George Y. Kohler, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev 14. Eros within the Limits of Mere Reason: On the Maimonidean Limits of Modern Jewish Philosophy, Hanoch Ben-Pazi, Bar Ilan University 15. How to Read Maimonides after Heidegger: The Cases of Strauss and Levinas, Benjamin Aldes Wurgaft, The University of California, Berkeley 16. Maimonides in Religious-Zionist Philosophy: Unity vs. Duality, Dov Schwartz, Bar Ilan University

How sustainable are our energy technologies? Photovoltaics and wind energy systems as examples

The energy sector plays a key role within the concept of Sustainable Development. Therefore, sustainability aspects should be considered when new energy systems are assessed. How does a specific supply option contribute to a desired sustainable development of the energy system? To answer this question, indicators are needed. These should cover the most significant sustainability issues of the energy sector. In a research project carried out at the Chair for Energy Systems and Energy Economics of Ruhr-Universitat Bochum, seven appropriate indicators were found. They were applied to wind turbines and photovoltaic systems as well as to a natural gas fired gas and steam plant. Sample calculations reveal characteristic strength and weakness profiles for the evaluated systems against the sustainability criteria. The results show, that renewable energy systems clearly contribute to a sustainable development of the energy sector. The indicators are, in principle, applicable to other energy technologies.

Piezo actuators for automotive injection systems

For best application of piezo actuators in motor vehicles new development tools and applications have been developed at the Institute for Electronic Circuits and Measurement of the Ruhr-Universitat Bochum. An exact model of piezo actuators allows accurate simulation and optimization in the early development phase for the entire injection system including electrical, mechanical and hydraulic equipment. Using the piezo element simultaneously as both an actuator and a sensor, the compensation of disturbances such as temperature, pressure variation and also wear-out is possible. Furthermore, continuous observation of the mechanical conditions within the injector is now made possible.

Scaling Laws for Centrifuge Modeling of Capillary Rise in Sandy Soils

The application of geotechnical centrifuge modeling to environmental problems seems promising. In this paper, one aspect of similitude laws concerning the flow of water through soils is investigated. Within the Network of European Centrifuges for Environmental Geotechnic Research, several tests have been carried out to study similitude laws describing the capillary ascension in porous media at different levels of acceleration. The aim of this paper is to present the results obtained at Ruhr-Universitat Bochum. A fine sand is used in the experiment. For the visualization of capillary height in the soil sample, image processing is used. Different boundary conditions ~constant or variable water level! have been investigated and discussed. All these experiments confirm that capillary rise appears scaled by the factor N and time seems to be scaled with N 2 . Thus, these results support the possibility of extending the use of accelerated small-scale models to the capillary phenomenon in centrifuge and open the way to more complex investigations of flow and pollutant transport in unsaturated soils.