The behaviour of political parties and MPs in the parliaments of the Weimar Republic

Copyright @ 2012 The Authors. This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below.Analysing the roll-call votes of the MPs of the Weimar Republic we find: (1) that party competition in the Weimar parliaments can be structured along two dimensions: an economic left–right and a pro-/anti-democratic. Remarkably, this is stable throughout the entire lifespan of the Republic and not just in the later years and despite the varying content of votes across the lifespan of the Republic, and (2) that nearly all parties were troubled by intra-party divisions, though, in particular, the national socialists and communists became homogeneous in the final years of the Republic.Zukunftskolleg, University of Konstan

Ambient air pollution by mercury species at the urban station in Zabrze, Southern Poland

The study presents the initial results of semi-continuous measurements of atmospheric mercury species (Hg0, Hg2+ and particle mercury Hgp bound with PM2.5) in Zabrze obtained between January and December 2011. Zabrze is a city (190,000 inhabitants) within Upper Silesia Agglomeration, the most urbanised and industrialised part of Poland. Ambient air was sampled from the roof of the two-storey building of Institute of Environmental Engineering of the Polish Academy of Sciences (residential area). The measurements were performed using a Tekran 2537B mercury analyzer together with a 1130 Speciation Unit and a 1135 Hgp Unit. Hg2+ is captured in the unit 1130 (KCl-coated denuder), while Hgp is trapped onto a regenerable filter inside the module 1135. Hg0 remaining in the air stream is then directed into the 2537B mercury analyzer and detected using cold vapour atomic fluorescence spectrometry. The concentration of Hg0 (5-minutes data) was from 1.5 to 67.5 ng m–3, with 3.3 ng m–3 as a mean value. Hg2+ concentration (1-hour data) varied from <1 to 763 pg m–3, at arithmetic mean of 25 pg m–3. The concentration of Hgp (1-hour data) ranged from <1 pg m–3 to 4.8 ng m–3, on average 52 pg m–3. While the concentration of Hg0 did not diverge generally from the levels observed in urban areas of Western Europe and Northern America, the concentrations of two remaining Hg forms were higher. Their concentrations were higher in winter than in summer unlike the concentration of Hg0

Przemiany rtęci w procesach spalania paliw stałych

The paper presents current reports on kinetics and mechanisms of reactions with mercury which take place in the exhaust gases, discharged from the processes of combustion of solid fuels (coals). The three main stages were considered. The first one, when thermal decomposition of Hg components takes place together with formation of elemental mercury (Hg0). The second one with homogeneous oxidation of Hg0 to Hg2+ by other active components of exhaust gases (e.g. HCl). The third one with heterogeneous reactions of gaseous mercury (the both - elemental and oxidised Hg) and solid particles of fly ash, leading to generation of particulate-bound mercury (Hgp). Influence of exhaust components and their concentrations, temperature and retention time on the efficiency of mercury oxidation was determined. The issues concerning physical (gas-solid) and chemical speciation of mercury (fractionation Hg0-Hg2+) as well as factors which have influence on the mercury speciation in exhaust gases are discussed in detail.Artykuł stanowi podsumowanie aktualnego stanu wiedzy nt. kinetyki i mechanizmów reakcji z udziałem rtęci, w tym reakcji homogenicznych i heterogenicznych, zachodzących w spalinach z procesów spalania paliw stałych. Opisano wpływ składników spalin i temperatury na efektywność utleniania rtęci. Omówiono również zagadnienia fizycznej i chemicznej specjacji rtęci w gazach spalinowych, jak również wpływ różnych czynników na specjację rtęci

Size distribution of particulate mercury by the roads and in the urban background conditions - preliminary study

Próbki aerozolu pobierano w Katowicach i Zabrzu, równolegle na stanowisku komunikacyjnym i tła miejskiego za pomocą 13-stopniowych impaktorów kaskadowych (DLPI fi rmy Dekati). Zawartość rtęci Hgp oznaczono metodą CVAAS (MA-2 fi rmy NIC). Rozkład masy Hgp względem wielkości cząstek miał zasadniczo charakter bimodalny. Główna wartość modalna rozkładu (maksimum) występowała w przedziale cząstek 0,4–1 μm (tzw. frakcja akumulacji). Natomiast druga mniejsza moda była zorientowana lokalnie i występowała w przedziale cząstek drobnych (0,108– –0,17 μm – Zabrze) lub grubych (2,5–4,4 μm – Katowice), zależnie od źródła pochodzenia Hgp.The aerosol was sampled simultaneously at two measurement sites (i.e. traffi c and urban background sites) in Katowice and Zabrze. The sampling was performed with 13-stage DLPI cascade impactors (manufactured by Dekati). The Hgp content was determined with the CVAAS method (MA-2 analyzer manufactured by NIC). The Hgp mass size distribution was generally bimodal. The main modal value of the distribution (maximum) was observed for the particle range of 0.4–1 μm (so-called accumulation fraction). The other lower mode was locally oriented and observed for fi ne (0.108–0.17 μm – Zabrze) or coarse (2.5–4.4 μm – Katowice) particles, which depended on the Hgp source

Pleurozium schreberi as bioindicator of mercury pollution in heavily industrialized region

Contains fulltext : 123470.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access