Können Araber Demokratie? Im Jahr II des Arabischen Frühlings werden erste zarte Triebe der Hoffnungen, die in diese Richtung neigten, von Soldatenstiefeln und flüchtenden Demonstranten zertreten. Die versiegelte Zeit brach auf, doch was ist erreicht worden? In der neuen Ausgabe ziehen wir eine Bilanz, die ebenso sachlich wie zwiespältig ist. Sie zeigt Erfolge, ohne zu beschönigen. Probleme werden sichtbar gemacht, aber auch Wege zu ihrer Lösung. Auch Europa ist gefragt: Wir müssen zu einem neuen, partnerschaftlichen Verhältnis mit den sich wandelnden arabischen Nationen finden!

<p>Groundwater is an important water resource to be used to supplement the water demand for the City of Cape Town for present and future generations. Understanding the groundwater occurrence of the Table Mountain area is very important for future groundwater exploitation and management. Apart from the sea in the west, Table Mountain is mostly surrounded by the unconsolidated sediments including the Kirstenbosch, Newlands, and Oranjezicht areas. These areas are rich in groundwater resources, like springs / some of them were utilized, others not. However, there are few studies that focused on spring resource in this area. No up to date information is available for spring resources research and relative data is lacking from local research institutions. In fact, some of the spring resources in the Table Mountain area had been extracted and been utilized for local community for many years. Data and information newly obtained from this study about such groundwater resources will help future groundwater development and management. There are at least 13 springs in the selected study area. Those springs were investigated for groundwater occurrence, because spring is an important manifestation of the underlying aquifer through which groundwater dynamics can be detected. The main objective of the study was to sketch a clear picture of groundwater occurrence and to obtain an improved understanding of how geomorphology affects groundwater flow, its manifestation and quality. Water resources management is also important because this kind of water resource can be used to help meet the water demand of this local area in the future. There is relationship between the topographical features of the Table Mountain and spring occurrence. The research area delineated is used to interpret the relationship. Hydro-geochemical analysis is carried out to indicate the chemical components of the groundwater and to understand the groundwater type and water quality of this particular area. Based on the completed analysis and interpretation of factors influencing discharge and recharge, some good results were obtained and useful information is made available for first time.</p>

In this thesis we present a computational study of “ion crystals”, the interesting patterns in which ions arrange themselves in ion traps such as Paul and Penning traps. In ion crystals the ions are in equilibrium due to the balance of the repulsive forces between the ions and the overall tendency of the ion trap to pull ions towards the trap centre. We have carried out a detailed investigation of ion crystals in Paul traps by solving their equations of motion numerically. We also propose a model called the spring–mass model to explain the formation of ion crystals. This model is far more efficient than direct numerical simulation for predicting ion crystal structures. Finally, we demonstrate that there is a power law relating distance of an ion from the trap centre in ion crystals to the applied RF voltage amplitude.

Two Differential GPS (DGPS) stations were set up on Storglaciären in the upper and lower part of the ablation area to study short term variations of Storglaciären’s motion. The study period lasted from April to July 2009 and the DGPS logged data every second. Station 14, was situated over an overdeepening in the subglacial bedrock topography in the upper part of the ablation area, and was functioning the whole study period. Station 7, situated in the lower part of the ablation area, only lasted for nine days and only overlapped five days with station 14. There was a clear lag in ice motion between the two stations which indicates longitudinal coupling between the upper and the lower part of the ablation area. Station 14 pushed from up-glacier during the first acceleration event at the 24th of April and when the velocity decreased station 7 pulled from down-glacier.  The total movement of the DGPS station was 26 m during the study period. The velocity was well correlated to the external changes in temperature and precipitation. It appears to be eleven days lag in response time from April to middle of May, but after mid May the glacier responded directly to melt acts such as temperature changes and precipitation events. The delay most likely depended on the hydrological system was not entirely evolved during early spring. During the summer the system evolves which makes the glacier to respond directly to external changes. There were four major acceleration events during the study period and after the accelerations the velocity went back to the same low state as before. These cannot be interpreted as spring events as spring events should lead to an increase in the overall velocity. The temperature fluctuated during the whole study period which affects the melting rate and input and development of the hydrological system. To get a clear spring event a marked and substantial onset of melt season is needed. / Två differentiella bärvägs GPS (DGPS) stationer sattes upp på Storglaciären på den övre och lägre delen av ablations området för att studera korttidsvariationer i isflöde. Fältundersökningen pågick under april till juli 2009 och DGPS loggades varje sekund. Station 14 är placerad vid en överfördjupning i bottentopografin i den övre delen av ablationsområdet och var i gång under hela studien. Station 7 fungerade endast i nio dagar och är placerad vid den lägre delen av ablationsområdet samt överlappade under endast fem dagar med station 14. Det finns en tydlig fördröjning mellan de två stationerna i isrörelse vilket indikerar en longitudinell koppling mellan den övre och undre delen av ablationsområdet. Före den 24 april reagerade station 14 snabbare än station 7. Efter en kraftig acceleration vid station 14 den 24 april skedde det en förändring till att den nedre delen av ablationsområdet reagerade snabbare än den övre delen. Den totala förflyttningen av station 14 var 26 m under mätperioden. Hastigheten är korrelerad med externa förändringar i temperatur och nederbörd. Under april till mitten av maj var det en förändring i reaktionstid på elva dagar men den övergick under sommaren till att reagera direkt på förändringar i temperatur och nederbörd. Förskjutningen berodde troligtvis på att det hydrologiska systemet inte var tillräckligt utvecklat. Under sommaren utvecklas systemet vilket leder till att glaciären reagerar snabbare på externa förändringar. Det förekom fyra större accelerationshändelser under fältperioden. Efter de observerade accelerationerna gick hastigheten tillbaka till samma nivå. Dessa accelerationshändelser kan inte tolkas som våracceleration. En våracceleration innebär att den generella hastigheten hos glaciären ökar till en ny högre nivå. Detta kan bero på att temperaturen skiftade under hela fältperioden som styr smältning, isflöde och utveckling av det hydroligiska systemet. För att få en tydlig ”spring event” måste smältsäsongens nå en tydlig början och forstätta så kontinueligt.

Today there exists a legal norm that declares the existence of a global responsibility to protect civilians from mass atrocities. Previous doctrines of non-intervention and permissibility were inadequate and demonstrated the need for a new outlook. From a commission proposal to international acceptance the doctrine of a responsibility to protect (R2P) developed quickly and legitimately. Recent events, especially the events in Libya during the Arab Spring, highlight the conceptual evolution of the norm and, more importantly, an international acceptance of its binding quality. Therefore, it is apparent R2P has achieved the status of a legal norm of international law.

Today there exists a legal norm that declares the existence of a global responsibility to protect civilians from mass atrocities. Previous doctrines of non-intervention and permissibility were inadequate and demonstrated the need for a new outlook. From a commission proposal to international acceptance the doctrine of a responsibility to protect (R2P) developed quickly and legitimately. Recent events, especially the events in Libya during the Arab Spring, highlight the conceptual evolution of the norm and, more importantly, an international acceptance of its binding quality. Therefore, it is apparent R2P has achieved the status of a legal norm of international law.

This thesis presents a tunable 3D real-time interactive simulator of the geometrical displacement of the thoracic diaphragm during physiological and mechanical ventilation. Particular attention is placed on capturing the heterogeneous tissue composition while maintaining computational efficiency and accuracy. The long term goal is to establish an accurate theoretical model to complement the experimental and clinical studies of the side effects associated with mechanical ventilation and to overcome the ethical difficulties of performing time resolved studies on human patients. The deformations are modelled using a commercial 3D model and a mass-spring model together with distance constraints and Verlet integration. The simulator is easily adjusted in real-time to many different cases of ventilation and validated through inspection and comparison with existing models. More research is needed to validate the model using patient specific data, as well as extending the model to include additional physiological and pathophysiological components. Long term goals includes considering the microscopic aspects of cellular mechanics to capture the underlying causes of ventilator-induced diaphragmatic dysfunction.

Covering the Northern part of the Province, Ontario’s low-volume roads provide a link from remote resource areas to markets. Thus, preserving this transportation asset from the two main sources of pavement deterioration, namely traffic loading and the environment is extremely critical to the movement of goods and to the economy. In particular, Northern Ontario’s secondary highways are challenged by a combination of heavy, low frequency traffic loading and a high number of freeze-thaw cycles for which most of these highways have not been structurally designed. Therefore they experience environmental damage and premature traffic-induced deterioration. To cope with this issue, the Ontario Ministry of Transportation places Spring Load Restrictions (SLR) every year during spring-thaw. For economic reasons, the duration of SLRs is usually fixed in advance and is not applied proactively or according to conditions in a particular year. This rigidity in the schedule needs to be addressed, as it can translate into economic losses either when the payload is unnecessarily restricted or when pavement deterioration occurs. While the traditional approaches are usually qualitative and rely on visual observations, engineering judgment and historical records to make SLR decisions, the latest approaches resort to climatic and deflection data to better assess the bearing capacity of the roadway. The main intent of this research was to examine how the use of a predictor for frost formation and thawing could improve the scheduling of load restrictions by tracking the frost-strengthening and thaw-weakening of the pavement structure. Based on field data captured in Northern Ontario, and on a preliminary analysis that found good correlation between frost thickness in the roadway and Road Weather Information Systems (RWIS) variables, more advanced frost and thaw predictors were developed as part of this research and are presented herein. The report outlines how the model was developed, details the calculation algorithms, and proposes an empirical methodology for a systematic site-specific calibration. This research also involved several experimental and numerical tools, including the use of a Portable Falling Weight Deflectometer (PFWD) to estimate pavement strength during spring thaw, and the use of the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) software to simulate the impact of SLR on the performance of typical Northern Ontario low volume roads.

Computation model is presented for mass spring systems of one and two dimensional phononic band gap crystals and micro-electro-mechanical systems. The computation model is veri ed with existing work, and phononic band gap microelectro- mechanical systems are analyzed. Phononic band gap in the scienti c and industrial community is discussed. The motivation and the recent popular methods are discussed. The computation models are highlighted with their pros and cons and adequate computational applications. The one dimensional mass spring model is developed and the simulator operation is validated through comparison with the published simulation data in the original paper by J.S. Jensen et al.. Additionally, the one dimensional mass spring simulator is validated for a micro-electro-mechanical system band structure. The two dimensional mass spring model is developed, as well, the simulator operation is validated through comparison with the published simulation data in the original paper by J.S. Jensen et al.. The two-dimensional simulator is utilized to analyze solid square-shaped, hollow square-shaped, solid diamond-shaped, and hollow diamond-shaped inclusion micro-electro-mechanical band gap structures. The solid inclusion-based micro-electro-mechanical band gap results are compared with hollow inclusion-based micro-electro-mechanical structures.

A methodology for making a spring back behaviour of hole expansion in gas tank. Work is initiated for SAAb automobile and the geometry of model is created by using the software’s called Unigraphics and hyper mesh and secondly the simulation of the model is done in Ls-dyna to know the spring back behaviour of hole with various depth and positions of the punch. The yield strength of the element and stress, strain distribution and different radius of the blank are used to reduce the cracks at the lower edge of the blank. Steel material is used and the thickness of the material (0.229mm). The simulation of the work includes loading of punch and its displacement. This study demonstrates the efficiency of the model to simulate the hole expansion and better understanding of the expansion of radius and spring back angle. / Measurement of spring back behaviour