Publications Repository - Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf

Mississippi Valley-type (MVT) Zn-Pb deposits are widely believed to form in compressional tectonic environments, related to gravity-driven fluid flow. Commonly, they are spatially related to hydrocarbon reservoirs in orogenic foreland settings, but the genetic and temporal links between hydrothermal sulfide mineralization, basin evolution and hydrocarbon generation remains tentative in most cases. We have used direct Rb-Sr chronometry of sphalerite to constrain the age of the Jabali MVT deposit, central Yemen, which is located in the well-studied oil-producing Sab´atayn Basin. A Rb-Sr age of 144.0 ± 4.3 Ma for sulfide mineralization obtained from a quantitative geochronological two-component paleomixing model coincides with a well constrained episode of active rifting, oil generation and expulsion in the Sab´atayn Basin during the Upper Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous.

Background: The aim of radiotherapy as a local treatment method is the eradication of all vital tumor cells in order to achieve permanent local tumor control. From a clinical point of view this means that a patient suffering from cancer can only be cured if all cancer stem cells as a specific subpopulation within a tumor are eliminated by the treatment. Results: New radiation techniques often employ lower normal tissue doses with less toxicity and/or the possibility to apply higher radiation doses to the target volume. High-resolution imaging is hereby mandatory for precise tumor volume definition as a basis of local tumor control. New developments in the field of bioimaging lead to further perspectives in radiotherapy. Conclusion: By combining anatomical information with biological characteristics of the tumor, additional benefits for treatment planning and outcome can be achieved. Thus, the use of these modern imaging methods to define irradiation target volumes more clearly forms the basis for the application of modern radiation techniques.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:

We compared two imaging biomarkers for dose-escalation in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Treatment plans boosting metabolically active sub-volumes defined by FDG-PET or hypoxic sub-volumes defined by HX4-PET were compared with boosting the entire tumour.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Ten NSCLC patients underwent FDG- and HX4-PET/CT scans prior to radiotherapy. Three isotoxic dose-escalation plans were compared per patient: plan A, boosting the primary tumour (PTVprim); plan B, boosting sub-volume with FDG >50% SUVmax (PTVFDG); plan C, boosting hypoxic volume with HX4 tumour-to-background >1.4 (PTVHX4).
RESULTS:

Average boost volumes were 507±466cm3 for PTVprim, 173±127cm3 for PTVFDG and 114±73cm3 for PTVHX4. The smaller PTVHX4 overlapped on average 87±16% with PTVFDG. Prescribed dose was escalated to 87±10Gy for PTVprim, 107±20Gy for PTVFDG, and 117±15Gy for PTVHX4, with comparable doses to the relevant organs-at-risk (OAR). Treatment plans are available online (https://www.cancerdata.org/10.1016/j.radonc.2015.07.013).
CONCLUSIONS:

Dose escalation based on metabolic sub-volumes, hypoxic sub-volumes and the entire tumour is feasible. Highest dose was achieved for hypoxia plans, without increasing dose to OAR. For most patients, boosting the metabolic sub-volume also resulted in boosting the hypoxic volume, although to a lower dose, but not vice versa.

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this study was to determine, by treatment plan comparison along with normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) modeling, whether a subpopulation of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) could be identified that would gain substantial benefit from proton therapy in terms of NTCP.
METHODS AND MATERIALS:

For 45 HNSCC patients, intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) was compared to intensity modulated proton therapy (IMPT). Physical dose distributions were evaluated as well as the resulting NTCP values, using modern models for acute mucositis, xerostomia, aspiration, dysphagia, laryngeal edema, and trismus. Patient subgroups were defined based on primary tumor location.
RESULTS:

Generally, IMPT reduced the NTCP values while keeping similar target coverage for all patients. Subgroup analyses revealed a higher individual reduction of swallowing-related side effects by IMPT for patients with tumors in the upper head and neck area, whereas the risk reduction of acute mucositis was more pronounced in patients with tumors in the larynx region. More patients with tumors in the upper head and neck area had a reduction in NTCP of more than 10%.
CONCLUSIONS:

Subgrouping can help to identify patients who may benefit more than others from the use of IMPT and, thus, can be a useful tool for a preselection of patients in the clinic where there are limited PT resources. Because the individual benefit differs within a subgroup, the relative merits should additionally be evaluated by individual treatment plan comparisons.

Adjuvant radiotherapy is the treatment standard for breast cancer with lymph node metastases after breast-conserving surgery or mastectomy. The inclusion of regional lymph nodes into the treatment volumes has been a question in recent clinical trials. Their impact on treatment standards and open questions is discussed.

Major advances in radiotherapy techniques, increasing knowledge of tumour biology and the ability to translate these advances into new therapeutic approaches are important goals towards more individualized cancer treatment. With the development of non-invasive functional and molecular imaging techniques such as positron emission tomography (PET)-CT scanning and MRI, there is now a need to evaluate potential new biomarkers for tumour response prediction, for treatment individualization is not only based on morphological criteria but also on biological tumour characteristics. The goal of individualization of radiotherapy is to improve treatment outcome and potentially reduce chronic treatment toxicity. This review gives an overview of the molecular and functional imaging modalities of tumour hypoxia and tumour cell metabolism, proliferation and perfusion as predictive biomarkers for radiation treatment response in head and neck tumours and in lung tumours. The current status of knowledge on integration of PET/CT/MRI into treatment management and bioimage-guided adaptive radiotherapy are discussed.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:

The majority of normal-tissue complication probability (NTCP) models for acute esophageal toxicity (AET) in advanced stage non-small cell lung cancer (AS-NSCLC) patients treated with (chemo-)radiotherapy are based on three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT). Due to distinct dosimetric characteristics of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), 3D-CRT based models need revision. We established a multivariable NTCP model for AET in 149 AS-NSCLC patients undergoing IMRT.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:

An established model selection procedure was used to develop an NTCP model for Grade ⩾2 AET (53 patients) including clinical and esophageal dose-volume histogram parameters.
RESULTS:

The NTCP model predicted an increased risk of Grade ⩾2 AET in case of: concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCR) [adjusted odds ratio (OR) 14.08, 95% confidence interval (CI) 4.70-42.19; p<0.001], increasing mean esophageal dose [Dmean; OR 1.12 per Gy increase, 95% CI 1.06-1.19; p<0.001], female patients (OR 3.33, 95% CI 1.36-8.17; p=0.008), and ⩾cT3 (OR 2.7, 95% CI 1.12-6.50; p=0.026). The AUC was 0.82 and the model showed good calibration.
CONCLUSIONS:

A multivariable NTCP model including CCR, Dmean, clinical tumor stage and gender predicts Grade ⩾2 AET after IMRT for AS-NSCLC. Prior to clinical introduction, the model needs validation in an independent patient cohort.

The ThermAc project aims at extending the chemical understanding and available thermodynamic database for actinides, long-lived fission products and relevant matrix elements in aquatic systems at elevated temperatures.

Der Einsatz chemischer Analysenverfahren zur Überwachung von mineralischen Rohstoffen kann auf eine sehr lange und erfolgreiche Geschichte zurückblicken. Die in den letzten Jahrzehnten stattgefundenen Entwicklungen auf dem Gebiet der chemischen Analytik, insbesondere die verbesserten Möglichkeiten zur Automatisierung und die größere Robustheit einzelner Gerätekomponenten sollten die Einsatzmöglichkeiten in Bergwerken, Aufbereitungsanlagen und metallurgischen Betrieben sehr stark erweitert haben.
Trotzdem liegt der Schwerpunkt der routinemäßig eingesetzten Verfahren zur Zeit bei der off-line Analyse chemischer und mineralogischer Parameter. Neben Bulktechniken kommen insbesondere ortsaufgelöste Verfahren zum Einsatz. Dies sind im Wesentlichen Verfahren der Röntgenfluoreszenzanalyse sowie elektronenstrahlbasierte Verfahren der automatisierten Mineralogie (MLA und QEMSCAN). Im Bereich der Spurenelementanalyse ist dies ICP-MS für die Lösungsanalytik und die Feststoffanalyse (LA-ICP-MS) .
Es wird aufgezeigt, welche Veränderungen in den Bergbau- und Aufbereitungstechnologien notwendig wären, um einen verstärkten Einsatz von in-line Verfahren verbunden mit eventueller Ortsauflösung zu rechtfertigen. Neueste Entwicklungen der Analysentechnik, die großes Potenzial für die Ressourcenanalytik aufweisen, werden vorgestellt.

Geochemical analysis in the domain of the value-added chain of mineral raw materials is designed to support purposeful the development and improvement of technologies.
Linking chemical and mineralogical data as well as information about the microstructure of ores and gangue minerals with general and specific models of the respective deposits allows the establishment of efficient input data for a targeted impact on mineral processing and metallurgical technologies. These interrelations describe the scientific subfield of geometallurgy. Classical exploration geochemistry and analytical methods for process control are added among it.
This relevancy to technologies and process control implicates specific requirements on the analytical methods regarding accuracy, precision, traceability, but also on availability, response time and sample throughput.
Ion beam analysis (IBA) has a well-earned reputation of an elaborate and complex analytical method, which is furthermore, difficult and strongly regulated to access. In addition is the treatment of the data ambitious and poorly automatable.
What role can and should IBA play in the context of geometallurgy and process control?
We will answer this question on a selection of examples and methods used and developed at the Helmholtz-Institute Freiberg in close cooperation with the Ion Beam Center of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf. In detail we will show:
1.) the application of the High-Speed PIXE (particle induced X-ray emission) to determine the lateral distribution of trace elements in large samples like drill cores or rock-chips,
2.) the chemical composition (H – U) of reference materials for microanalytical methods using a combination of PIXE, particle induced gamma emission (PIGE), nuclear reaction analysis (NRA) and Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS) and
3.) the validation and support of proof of concept and proof of performance procedures of new process analytical methods.

A new PIXE (particle-induced X-ray emission) beamline equipped with a full-field energy-dispersive X-ray camera [1,2] has been recently put into operation at HZDR. The so-called High-Speed PIXE is a combination of a 264 x 264 pixel-detector with polycapillary optics guiding the proton-induced X-ray fluorescence radiation towards a pnCCD-chip with an energy resolution of 156 eV (@Mn-Kα). It allows a fast detection of elements over a field of 12 x 12 mm² simultaneously with a lateral resolution better than 100 µm, even at the trace level (<0.1 at.%). A large vacuum sample chamber containing a high-precision sample manipulator (Figure 1) enables a high throughput of even large and heavy samples.
The new set-up is mainly developed for the investigation of geological samples for resource technology research, e.g. analysis of grain composition and intergrowths or determination of rare earth element distributions. The simultaneous measurement of a big array of pixel enables a fast overview over a large region of the sample with first results becoming visible almost immediately. Together with the PIXE-PIGE (particle-induced gamma-emission) implementation at the classical micro-beamline at HZDR (~3 µm resolution) this new approach allows analysis of most of the elements of interest in mineralogy and resource technology research.
First results concerning lateral resolution and detection limits of geological samples are encouraging. Due to the low background in the PIXE spectra investigation of the lateral distribution of trace elements is possible in unrivalled time.

[1] O. Scharf et al., Anal. Chem., 2011, . 83, 2532.
[2] I. Ordavo et al., NIM A, 2011, . 654, 250.

Glioblastoma multiforme is the most aggressive type of primary brain tumor with a median overall survival (OS) of about 12 months. Brain metastases are the most common form of brain tumors and significantly outnumber primary brain tumors, with the majority originating from lung cancer, especially non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Despite aggressive treatment, their prognosis is also poor with a median OS of approximately 7 months after diagnosis. Treatment of those tumors remains one of the most challenging tasks in clinical oncology. Although new molecular pathways in tumor biology are being constantly discovered, translation of basic science achievements into clinical practice is rather slow. Major obstacles in resistance to therapy are heterogeneity of brain tumors, multiple genetic alterations, and their diffuse, infiltrative behaviour. Hence identifying and investigating pathways related to tumor etiology and growth is highly important. Positron emission tomography (PET) offers the potential to identify key signaling pathways in brain tumors involving neurotransmitters and -modulators and to discover drugs which may be used for their therapy.
One of the most important prerequisites for PET is the development and evaluation of radiolabelled ligands in order to investigate brain functions in living human subjects. Fluorine-18 is currently the most favorable radionuclide that is routinely used for radiolabeling because of its half-life of 109.8 min. The use of PET radioligands provides brain images of transport, metabolic and neurotransmission processes on the molecular level. PET is currently the most sensitive and specific method for this type of studies. Through integration of chemical/radiochemical, pharmaceutical/radiopharmaceutical, biochemical and radiopharmacological basic research, computational chemistry and with the aid of nuclear medicine diagnostic new approaches in brain tumor treatment will be made available. The presentation will focus on the strategy of radiotracer development bridging from basic science to biomedical application focusing on targets of major importance for the mentioned tumors such as cannabinoid, sigma and nicotinic alpha7 receptors.

Es ist kein Abstract vorhanden.

Despite their name, rare earth elements (REE, La–Lu) are not rare. As a matter of fact, they are three orders of magnitude more abundant in the Earth’s Crust than for example gold (e.g. Wedepohl, 1995). Ore-forming processes produce local enrichments in which the concentration of gold may exceed its average crustal abundance by a factor of 1000 – or more. Rare earth elements, in contrast, are widely and evenly disseminated in the Earth’s Crust – they are rarely enriched to form economic concentrations that may then be exploited as ore deposits.
Despite being rather scarce, REE enrichments may form by a number of geological processes. Consequently, a number of classifications exist in literature for REE deposits. Broadly, REE deposits of magmatic affiliation can be distinguished from REE deposits of hydrothermal and sedimentary origin. The latter include marine (heavy mineral) placer deposits, residual ion adsorption clays (IACs) as well as highly REE-enriched lateritic caprocks developed at the expense of REE-enriched protoliths. Magmatic deposits include, most importantly, REE enrichment in igneous rocks such as alkaline to peralkaline and carbonatite rocks, as well as rare metal enriched pegmatites. The least common type of REE deposit is of hydrothermal origin, including monazite and/or xenotime-rich vein and breccia-type mineralization. Combinations of above-mentioned ore-forming processes are known or under discussion (e.g. Drew et al. 1990, Dostal et al. 2014, Kempe et al. 2015), resulting in complex mineralisation styles, complex mineral assemblages and multi-stage paragenetic sequences. It is therefore not surprising that the assignment to one or another type is ambiguous in some cases.
Despite obvious genetic complexity and a multitude of ore-forming environments, more than 90% of the world’s recent REE production stems from (virtually) monomineralic ores, including the Bayan Obo deposit (China), the Mountain Pass deposit (USA) and the Mt. Weld deposit (Australia). The former two are pristine magmatic carbonatites, whereas the latter is a lateritic deposit formed by enrichment of a carbonatite intrusion (Long et al. 2010). Bastnaesite, a REE-fluoride-carbonate, is the only important ore mineral at Mountain Pass, monazite, a REE phosphate clearly predominates at Mt. Weld, whereas both of these common REE-minerals are widespread at Bayan Obo.
REE mineral-bearing placer deposits are well known in the marine environment. They always contain monazite as the quantitatively most important REE-mineral, with xenotime, a Y-HREE phosphate closely related to monazite, a distant second. Such placer deposits are, however, currently only exploited for REE in India.
Needless to say, all of the deposit types described above are highly enriched only in light REE (LREE), whereas the highly coveted heavy REE (HRREE) are present only in very minor concentrations. HREE are mostly extracted from ion adsorption clay deposits in southern China. These deposits are the product of intensive chemical weathering of only mildly REE-enriched granites in a warm and humid climate. REE are remobilized during weathering and adsorbed to the surface of clay minerals. There are thus no clear REE minerals present – and exploitation is by in-situ leaching rather than conventional mining (Orris & Grauch, 2002).
Because demand in particular for HREE for high tech applications is rapidly increasing, other REE occurrences with more exotic and more complex mineralogies have been have recently come into focus. This includes alkaline igneous complexes, e.g., in Russia (Lovozero), Canada (Strange Lake, Thor Lake), Sweden (Norra Kärr) and several localities in Greenland. Some of these deposits are hydrothermally altered, leading to considerable increase of REE contents and other valuable elements. Such processes of hydrothermal alteration do not only result in an increase of REE concentration, also a complex assemblage of REE minerals (e.g. Kempe et al. 2015).

References:

Dostal, J., Kontak, D.J. and Karl, S.M. (2014): The early jurassic Bokan Mountain peralkaline granitic complex (southeastern Alaska): Geochemistry, petrogenesis and rare-metal mineralization. Lithos 202–203:395–412
Drew, L.J., Qingrun, M. and Weijun, S. (1990): The Bayan Obo iron-rare-earth-niobium deposits, Inner Mongolia, China. Lithos 26:43–65
Kempe, U., Möckel, R., Grauner, T. Kynicky, J. and Dombon, E. (2015): The genesis of Zr-Nb-REE mineralisation at Khalzan Buregte (Western Mongolia) reconsidered. Ore Geology Reviews 64: 602–625
Long, K.R., Van Gosen, B.S., Foley, N.K. and Cordier, D. (2010): The principal rare earth element deposits of the United States – A summary of domestic deposits and a global perspective. USGS Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5220
Orris, G.J. and Grauch, R.I. (2002): Rare earth element mines, deposits, and occurences. USGS Open-File Report 02-189
Wedepohl, K.H. (1995): The composition of the continental crust, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 59(7):1217–1232

Compacted clays are considered as excellent candidates for barriers to radionuclide transport in future repositories for nuclear waste due to their very low hydraulic permeability. Diffusion is the dominant transport mechanism, controlled by a nano-scale pore system. Assessment of the clays’ long-term containment function requires adequate modelling of such pore systems and their evolution. Existing characterisation techniques do not provide complete pore space information for effective modelling, such as pore and throat size distributions and connectivity. Special network models for reactive transport are proposed here using the complimentary character of the pore space and the solid phase. This balances the insufficient characterisation information and provides the means for future mechanical-physical-chemical coupling. The anisotropy and heterogeneity of clays is represented using different length parameters and percentage of pores in different directions. Resulting networks are described as mathematical graphs with efficient discrete calculus formulation of transport. Opalinus Clay (OPA) is chosen as an example. Experimental data for the tritiated water (HTO) and U(VI) diffusion through OPA are presented. Calculated diffusion coefficients of HTO and uranium species are within the ranges of the experimentally determined data in different clay directions. This verifies the proposed pore network model and validates that uranium complexes are diffusing as neutral species in OPA. In the case of U(VI) diffusion the method is extended to account for sorption and convection. Rather than changing pore radii by coarse grained mathematical formula, physical sorption is simulated in each pore, which is more accurate and realistic.

Mixing of coolant with different boron content and/or different temperature in the primary system of pressurized water reactors (PWR) plays an important role during normal operation and under accident conditions [1]. In emergency core cooling (ECC) situations after a loss of coolant accident, cold ECC water is injected into the hot water of the cold leg and downcomer. Temperature distributions near the wall and temperature gradients in time are important to be known for the assessment of thermal stresses (Pressurized Thermal Choc).
Numerous experiments were realized in the test facility ROCOM of the Helmholz Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Dresden, Germany, ([2], [3]) to investigate the effects of density differences between the primary loop inventory and the ECC water on the mixing in the downcomer. The mass flow rate in the hot leg was varied between 0 and 15% of the nominal flow rate, to keep it at the order of magnitude of natural circulation flow. The density differences between ECC and loop water were varied between 0 and 10% in order to simulate cold water injection. In 2005, an experiment with 5% flow rate in loop 1 and 10% density difference between ECC and loop water were compared to CFD calculations with Trio_U [1]. The Froude number is Fr=0.366, which is labelled as density-dominated. The same experiment is analyzed here with the TrioCFD code, taking into account 10 years of code and hardware development.

In the framework of the thesis several minerals were analyzed in the Helmholtz-Institute Freiberg and in the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf. The used methods are Mineral Liberation Analysis (MLA), Electron probe micro analysis (EPMA) and Particle Induced X-ray Analysis (PIXE). The data were interpreted and compared to published mineralogical, petrographical and geochemical data.

Das Ergebnis der Untersuchungen ist eine petrographische Beschreibung der Hauptgesteinstypen und ihrer petrochemischen Besonderheiten. Des weiteren wird die Verteilung dieser Gesteinstypen in der Lagerstätte sowie die Verteilung der salischen und mafischen Komponenten im Detail beschrieben und statistisch ausgewertet. Dies ermöglichte die Erarbeitung eines Modells der einzelnen Erzkörper in der Lagerstätte. Ein genetisches Modell sowie Vorschläge zur Abbauführung wurden erarbeitet.

Secondary raw materials are becoming increasingly more important in ensuring the stability of critical metal supply. Ashes, slags, dusts and other industrial residues are produced in large quantities.
Precise and accurate chemical and mineralogical data, knowledge of distribution of valuable and deleterious elements in the single phases as well as information about homogeneity and grain size distribution of the minerals are crucial for the development of new extraction technologies.
Gaining these essential information can be achieved by using SEM-based, X-ray-based and Proton-induced methods of automated mineralogical analysis.
However, the large particle size range, the dominance of very small grain sizes (< 5 µm) and the diversity of phases are challenging for such types of analysis. Furthermore, in contrast to natural materials the analysis of secondary materials faces the challenge of developing new methods for non-natural extreme combinations of elements and phases. Initial results of ash and slag samples done with the MLA (electron-based), the High-Speed PIXE (Particle Induced X-Ray Emission) and a the new XRF Mine Analyzer (X-Ray Fluorescence) will be presented and evaluated.

The coolant density coefficient represents one of the main reactivity feedback in Lead-cooled Fast Reactors (LFRs) and Sodium-cooled Fast Rectors (SFRs), and its accurate calculation is important for a correct evaluation of the dynamic of these systems. Coolant density reactivity maps have been calculated in the past adopting perturbation theory in deterministic codes. Usually, full-core simulations employed multi-group diffusion codes or 2D (r, z) geometrical approximations. Nowadays, Monte Carlo neutron transport simulations are commonly adopted for the study of LFR and SFR. Nonetheless, reactivity feedback is usually calculated via direct perturbations, i.e., comparing the effective multiplication factor of two separate Monte Carlo runs. When small effects are to be investigated via the direct perturbation approach, the adoption of either large system perturbations or a large number of simulated particles is required, in order to reduce the statistical errors. Moreover, if spatial maps of coolant density reactivity coefficient are to be generated via direct perturbation, one criticality source Monte Carlo simulation is required for each spatial region. In this view, the sensitivity/perturbation method offer the advantage of producing a large number of sensitivity coefficients is a single calculation. More important, this approach allows decomposing reactivity effects by energy and reaction for a deeper investigation of the feedback. In this work, two LFR and SFR core designs are considered, focusing on the calculation and analysis of the coolant density reactivity coefficient. The space-dependent lead and sodium density reactivity worth are calculated adopting the sensitivity/perturbation capabilities recently implemented in an extended version of the Serpent-2 code , previously adopted for the calculation of coolant void maps . The present work focuses on the validation of the sensitivity/perturbation results against direct perturbation calculations, on the analysis of the optimal parameters to be adopted for the simulations and on the discussion of the peculiar results obtained for the two considered cases.

The nodal diffusion code DYN3D (Grundmann et al., 2000, 2005) is under extension for Sodium cooled Fast Reactor (SFR) application. As a part of the extension new models for thermal expansion reactivity feedbacks are needed. One of these is the reactivity feedback of the axial fuel rod expansion, which is dependent on local temperatures. The difficulty in the modeling of this effect with nodal codes can be attributed to the inflexibility of the nodal mesh i.e. all nodes in a same axial layer have to be of an identical height. This restricts the modeling to a simplified case of the radially uniform axial expansion.

In this study a new model for the treatment of axial fuel rod expansions was developed and implemented in DYN3D. The idea of the model was to preserve the axial size of the nodes and to account for the axial expansion effects by manipulation of homogenized few-group cross sections (XS). In this way the rigid nodal discretization can remain unchanged, and each node can be treated separately depending on its degree of expansion. The model recombines (“mixes”) the XS for the affected nodes, depending on the contribution of the expanded materials inside of the node.

Nodal diffusion codes are used routinely for nuclear reactor simulations. The homogenized few-group macroscopic reaction cross sections (XS) for the nodal codes are generated beforehand in single assembly calculations using the lattice neutron transport codes. Usually core- and cycle-averaged operational conditions (coolant density, fuel temperature, boron concentration, etc.) and nominal power are utilized for a single assembly depletion simulation, and the variations of operational conditions are used for branching calculations.
The spectral conditions of single assembly depletion differ from local conditions in a real reactor core. Deviation of local spectral history from core-averaged values leads to deviations in fuel nuclide content and thus influences macroscopic cross sections. Dependence of XS on spectral history is taken into account by various methods: micro-depletion (Bahadir et al., 2005), Pu-correction (Bilodid and Mittag, 2010), spectral indexes (Baturin and Vygovskii, 2001) and exposure-weighted operational parameters (Bahadir et al., 2005).
DYN3D is a 3D nodal reactor dynamic code developed at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf mainly for transients, but also for steady-state and fuel cycles analysis in LWR cores with hexagonal or square fuel assemblies (Grundmann et al., 2005). Spectral history effects are taken into account in DYN3D by the Pu-correction method (Bilodid and Mittag, 2010). However it is not able to reproduce fuel reactivity changes due to outage periods.
In this work the modified microscopic depletion methodology was proposed and implemented in DYN3D. The most important innovations are: a.) correction of microscopic cross sections, scattering matrix, diffusion coefficients and kinetic parameters using local fissile content and, b.) the depletion solver which utilizes fast and accurate Chebyshev rational approximation method (CRAM).
The use of the CRAM (Gonchar and Rakhmanov, 1989, Pusa, 2011) in depletion solver allows to accurately calculate concentrations of all nuclides, which are present in nuclear fuel in considerable amounts. In the shown test cases about 1100 nuclides were considered in DYN3D, in contrast to about 50 nuclides considered in codes like SIMULATE and ANC.
In DYN3D depletion solver, the number of considered nuclides is chosen by user according to the task of simulation. This research has shown that about 80 nuclides (out of considered 1100) actually are important from neutronics point of view. However, for an accurate tracking of these 80 important nuclides it is necessary to consider all intermediate nuclides in transmutation chains, which results in significantly larger nuclide inventory (>300). On the other hand, knowledge of the full nuclide content can be used for realistic decay heat and radiotoxicity calculation.
In this work Serpent (Leppänen et al., 2014) continuous energy Monte Carlo neutron transport code with JEFF-3.1 isotopic library was used to obtain reference solutions for the examined test cases and to generate homogenized macro- and microscopic cross sections for DYN3D.

In our previous studies we reported on a high conversion (HC) Th-U233 fuel design for current generation of PWRs (Baldova et al., 2014a, 2014b). In (Baldova et al., 2014a), HC seed-blanket (SB) Th-U233 fuel assembly design options were presented and investigated. In (Baldova et al., 2014b), the overall operational feasibility of the design was assessed based on the 3D coupled neutronic, thermal-hydraulic (T-H), and burnup analysis of a PWR core fully loaded with HC Th-U233 fuel. This included estimation of fuel cycle length, critical boron concentration (CBC), maximum achievable power density levels, conversion performance as well as evaluation of reactivity coefficients and a number of safety related T-H parameters.
The current paper deals with a number of fuel cycle aspects associated with the use of HC Th-U233 fuel in PWRs.

Accelerator Driven systems (ADS) along with traditional fast reactors are under study as a possible mean to transmute minor actinides (MA) and long lived fission products (LLFP). The Fast Reactor Experiments for hybrid Applications (FREYA [1]) European FP7 project was launched in 2011 to support the designs of the ADS MYRRHA [2] and lead fast reactor (LFR) ALFRED [3]. The main aim of the FREYA project is to validate reactivity monitoring methods in sub-critical cores, but essential efforts were also devoted to the validation of MA data in several VENUS-F zero power critical assemblies simulating LFR and MYRRHA critical cores. In these critical VENUS-F assemblies, fission rate ratios of MA such as Np-237, Am-241 as well as Pu-239, Pu-240, Pu-242 and U-238 to U-235 were measured using calibrated fission chambers. The measurements were analyzed using advanced computational tools including deterministic and stochastic codes and recent nuclear data sets. The C/E results of these fission rate ratios in several fast neutron lead cooled VENUS-F zero power assemblies are presented and discussed.

By application of bacterial surface proteins (S-layer proteins) new options of functionalizing textile surfaces are offered. Based on their intrinsic property to reorganize very regularly on surfaces of different materials even after isolation (depending on basic conditions) the S-layer proteins offer new ways to structure textile surfaces in both nano and micro scale.
Within a R&D project both the application of S-layer proteins on textile surfaces and the subsequent functionalization of these protein coated textile surfaces were investigated. Nonwovens with different chemical composition were coated with S-layer proteins and then

• antimicrobially functionalized with silver nano particles,
• catalytically activated with palladium nano particles,
• hydrophilically functionalized with polyurethane or carboxylic acid based chemicals,
• oleophobically functionalized with fluorocarbons and
• coated with polyurethane.

The results of this work will be presented.

The present study reveals a numerical investigation of severe slugging with the system code ATHLET. It is aimed to close knowledge gaps about the two-phase flow within the connection pipes of two adjacent collectors in a solar thermal power plant with direct steam generation. The underlying ATHLET model provides a one-dimensional 6 equation model with a mass, momentum and energy equation for each phase, respectively. This comprehensive model provides all features for the examination of water steam flows in this type of power plants. A validation of ATHLET for severe slugging conditions is performed and the results are in good agreement with experimental data. The probability of severe slugging is studied for numerous flow conditions and geometric conditions which are close to operation conditions and piping system at the DISS test facility at the Plataforma Solar de Almería, Spain. The results confirm that certain conditions prevent severe slugging in the DISS test facility. Especially, high pressure conditions are the reason for a stable operation. No severe slugging is observed at pressures P ≥ 30 bar in the simulations of a typical geometry of the DISS test facility.

Purpose: The quantitative accuracy of standardized uptake values (SUVs) and tracer kinetic uptake parameters in patient investigations strongly depends on accurate determination of regional activity concentrations in positron emission tomography (PET) data. This determination rests on the assumption that the given scanner calibration is valid in vivo. In a previous study, we introduced a method to test this assumption. This method allows to identify discrepancies in quantitative accuracy in vivo by comparison of activity concentrations of urine samples measured in a well-counter with activity concentrations extracted from PET images of the bladder. In the present study, we have applied this method to the Philips Ingenuity-TF PET/MR since at the present stage, absolute quantitative accuracy of combined PET/MR systems is still under investigation.
Methods: Twenty one clinical whole-body F18-FDG scans were included in this study. The bladder region was imaged as the last bed position and urine samples were collected afterward. PET images were reconstructed including MR-based attenuation correction with and without truncation compensation and 3D regions-of-interest (ROIs) of the bladder were delineated by three observers. To exclude partial volume effects, ROIs were concentrically shrunk by 8–10 mm. Then, activity concentrations were determined in the PET images for the bladder and for the urine by measuring the samples in a calibrated well-counter. In addition, linearity measurements of SUV vs singles rate and measurements of the stability of the coincidence rate of “true” events of the PET/MR system were performed over a period of 4 months.
Results: The measured in vivo activity concentrations were significantly lower in PET/MR than in the well-counter with a ratio of the former to the latter of 0.756±0.060 (mean ± std. dev.), a range of 0.604–0.858, and a P value of 3.9·10⁻¹⁴. While the stability measurements of the coincidence rate of “true” events showed no relevant deviation over time, the linearity scans revealed a systematic error of 8%–11% (avg. 9%) for the range of singles rates present in the bladder scans. After correcting for this systematic bias caused by shortcomings of the manufacturers calibration procedure, the PET to well-counter ratio increased to 0.832±0.064 (0.668–0.941), P = 1.1·10⁻¹⁰. After compensating for truncation of the upper extremities in the MR-based attenuation maps, the ratio further improved to 0.871±0.069 (0.693–0.992), P = 3.9·10⁻⁸.
Conclusions: Our results show that the Philips PET/MR underestimates activity concentrations in the bladder by 17%, which is 7 percentage points (pp.) larger than in the previously investigated PET and PET/CT systems. We attribute this increased underestimation to remaining limitations of the MRbased attenuation correction. Our results suggest that only a 2 pp. larger underestimation of activity concentrations compared to PET/CT can be observed if compensation of attenuation truncation of the upper extremities is applied. Thus, quantification accuracy of the Philips Ingenuity-TF PET/MR can be considered acceptable for clinical purposes given the ±10% error margin in the EANM guidelines. The comparison of PET images from the bladder region with urine samples has proven a useful method. It might be interesting for evaluation and comparison of the in vivo quantitative accuracy of PET, PET/CT, and especially PET/MR systems from different manufacturers or in multicenter trials.

Two critical points have been revealed in the normal-state phase diagram of the electron-doped cuprate superconductor Nd_2−xCe_xCuO₄ by exploring the Fermi surface properties of high-quality single crystals by high-field magnetotransport. First, the quantitative analysis of the Shubnikov-de Haas effect shows that the weak superlattice potential responsible for the Fermi surface reconstruction in the overdoped regime extrapolates to zero at the doping level x_c = 0.175 corresponding to the onset of superconductivity. Second, the high-field Hall coefficient exhibits a sharp drop right below optimal doping x_opt = 0.145 where the superconducting transition temperature is maximum. This drop is most likely caused by the onset of long-range antiferromagnetic ordering. Thus the superconducting dome appears to be pinned by two critical points to the normal state phase diagram.

The quality of the produced steel in the continuous casting process is significantly governed by the melt flow in the mold. However, direct flow measurements in liquid metals are still rather scarce. In order to investigate these flow phenomena, three experimental facilities operating with low melting liquid metals were installed at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR). The melt flow in the models is measured by the Ultrasonic Doppler Velocimetry (UDV) or the Contactless Inductive Flow Tomography (CIFT), multi-phase flows can be visualized by X-ray imaging. The obtained measurement results are primarily used for validation of numerical models.
In this paper we will investigate the fluid flow in the mold and the behavior of the surface of the liquid metal using flow measurements by UDV and surface profile measurement by a laser scanner, respectively. Strong fluctuations and deviations of the free surface were observed in case of a static magnetic field.

Precise data for the solar neutrino fluxes from the decays of beryllium-7 (5% error) and boron-8 (3% error) have opened a new era for the study of solar fusion. In a stunning reversal, solar neutrino fluxes now have lower uncertainties than solar model inputs. Thus, the logical next step is to bring the relevant laboratory nuclear data to a level of precision matching the neutrino data. The relevant energies are far below the repulsive Coulomb barrier of the interacting nuclei for the case of solar fusion reaction. This leads to very low nuclear reaction cross sections, so that relevant data can only be taken in a low-background environment underground, shielded from cosmic ray background. The talk will review recent progress in the field of solar fusion reactions and give an outlook on future work at the upcoming Felsenkeller underground accelerator lab in Dresden, Germany. At Felsenkeller, in spring 2016 a high-current 5 MV accelerator will be placed in an underground laboratory, where the cosmic ray muon flux is suppressed by a factor of 40. This new laboratory will enable uniquely sensitive experiments to study solar fusion and other astrophysically relevant nuclear reactions.

In the case of astrophysically important reactions, cross section measurements at or near the Gamow energy require high-intensity accelerators, long running times of typically one year per experiment, and ultra low background [1]. The highly successful LUNA 0.4MV accelerator in Gran Sasso, Italy, has pioneered this field with data on several nuclear reactions of stellar hydrogen burning and of Big Bang nucleosynthesis. As a result, there is a call for one or more new underground accelerators with higher beam energy, able to address also helium and carbon burning and the neutron sources for the astrophysical s-process [2].
Such an accelerator is being installed at the Felsenkeller underground site in Dresden, Ger- many. It is shielded from cosmic radiation by 45 m of rock, reducing the muon flux by a factor of 40. An intercomparison exercise has shown that at Felsenkeller, the background in a typical nuclear astrophysics γ-ray detector is competitive to the deep-underground case in the crucial 6-8 MeV γ-ray energy range, if an additional muon veto is used.
A high-current 5MV Pelletron accelerator that was previously used in York, UK, has been bought for this purpose. It is being fitted with an internal ion source to provide intensive H+ and He+ beams in addition to the existing external sputter ion source. The site construction progress will be shown. The laboratory will be open to outside users, who are invited to form a user consortium.

Favored by the low background underground, accelerator-based exper- iments are an important tool to study nuclear astrophysics reactions involving stable charged particles. This technique has been used with great success at the 0.4 MV LUNA accelerator in the Gran Sasso lab- oratory in Italy. However, the nuclear reactions of helium and car- bon burning and the neutron source reactions for the astrophysical s-process require higher beam energies, as well as the continuation of solar fusion studies. As a result, NuPECC strongly recommended the installation of one or more higher-energy underground accelerators. Such a project is underway in Dresden. A 5MV Pelletron accelerator is currently being refurbished by installing an ion source on the high voltage terminal, enabling intensive helium beams. The preparation of the underground site is funded, and the civil engineering project is being updated. The science case, operational strategy and project status will be reported.

New astronomical observations on the Sun and other astronomical objects require for their interpretation new, precise nuclear cross section data. However, in stable-beam experiments for nuclear astrophysics, in many cases the cross section is so low that the laboratory background in a detector forms an insurmountable obstacle to experiments at astrophysical energies. By placing the experimental setup in an underground laboratory, the cosmic ray induced background can be reduced so far that highly sensitive experiments are feasible. Data on Big Bang nucleosynthesis and a number of hydrogen burning reactions in the Sun, asymptotic-giant branch stars and astrophysical novae are reviewed here.

A new setup for kinematically complete reaction experiments for beams of radioactive nuclei far from the valley of stability is under construction at FAIR Darmstadt, Germany. NeuLAND, a highly efficient (>90%) neutron time of flight detector made of fast plastic scintillators is included in the setup. In order to reach proper resolution in the reconstructed energy spectrum, a time resolution of sigma < 150 ps is required. Using the ELBE picosecond electron beam as a time reference, it is currently being studied whether semiconductor-based photosensors (SiPMs) can be used for the readout of the NeuLAND scintillator bars.

The one-neutron knock-out reaction H1(C20,C19γ) was studied at RIKEN using the DALI2 array. A γ-ray transition was observed at 198(10) keV. Based on the comparison between the experimental production cross section and theoretical predictions, the transition was assigned to the de-excitation of the 3/21+ state to the ground state.

We report on measurements of resonance strengths and energies for the Ep=151 and 193 keV resonances in the18O(p, α )15N and17O(p, α )14N reactions, respectively, obtained during commissioning of a new setup for alpha-particle detection studies at the LUNA underground laboratory. Our values, ωγ(151)=164.2±0.9stat+12.1−11.7syst meV and ωγ(193)=1.68±0.03stat±0.12syst meV, are in excellent agreement with those reported in the literature. New values of resonance energies are Ep=151.2±0.3 keV and Ep=194.8±0.3 keV, respectively, this latter with the highest precision to date. Comparative background measurements in silicon detectors overground and underground were also carried out, yielding up to a factor of 15 in background suppression at LUNA at energies around 200keV. This clearly demonstrates the usefulness of underground measurements in charged-particles experiments, especially at low detection energies.

We present new results on the liquid–liquid extraction of uranium (VI) from a nitric acid aqueous phase into a tri-n-butyl phosphate/1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide (TBP/[C4mim][Tf2N]) phase. The individual solubilities of the ionic-liquid ions in the upper part of the biphasic system are measured over the whole acidic range and as a function of the TBP concentration. New insights into the extraction mechanism are obtained through the in situ characterization of the extracted uranyl complexes by coupling UV/Vis and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy. We propose a chemical model to explain uranium (VI) extraction that describes the data through a fit of the uranyl distribution ratio DU. In this model, at low acid concentrations uranium (VI) is extracted as the cationic complex [UO2(TBP)2]2+, by an exchange with one proton and one C4mim+. At high acid concentrations, the extraction proceeds through a cationic exchange between [UO2(NO3)(HNO3)(TBP)2]+ and one C4mim+. As a consequence of this mechanism, the variation of DU as a function of TBP concentration depends on the C4mim+ concentration in the aqueous phase. This explains why noninteger values are often derived by analysis of DU versus [TBP] plots to determine the number of TBP molecules involved in the extraction of uranyl in an ionic-liquid phase.

To evaluate the feasibility of a future underground mining operation is a complex problem in itself, with several different parameters to be accounted for and evaluated to secure investment decisions over the viability of any potential underground mining project. This procedure gets even more complicated when it comes to exploiting rare earth deposits. Various concerns are expressed regarding the environmental impacts that an underground mining operation may cause due to the radioactivity of the rare earth elements during mining and in waste treatment. Furthermore, the fragile market and the diversified supply and demand of the different rare earth elements can significantly affect the viability of such a venture, among other factors. This paper deals with the definition and classification of the specific criteria that govern the REE mining industry. Moreover, a thorough investigation is made of how these criteria can determine not only the selection of the underground mining method to be applied, but also of the impact that they may have to the overall feasibility of any given potential project. This paper was presented by the author´s at the SOMP conference on 24th June 2015 at the TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Freiberg, Germany.

All rare earth deposits contain Natural Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORMs), which primarily comprise radionuclides from the decay series of elements like Uranium (U) and Thorium (Th), especially products like radon. The contents of these materials are variable, and often occupational and environmental radiation exposures during mining need to be carefully assessed during the selection of appropriate technologies. The restriction of exposure to radon is the main target to help maintain a safe underground working environment. Mine ventilation is the primary technique of controlling ambient concentrations of radon progeny. In this paper, an attempt is made to determine the radon dispersion sources and the risks related to radiation exposure. Evaluations are made of the boundary conditions and the technologies that can contribute to the restriction and removal of radon from the underground mine air.

Gas-liquid metal two-phase flows are widespread in many technical fields such as metallurgy or energy and nuclear engineering. In general, the gas injection leads to highly turbulent and complex two-phase flows, which are difficult to predict by numerical simulations. The injected gas bubbles have a distinct influence on the flow pattern and may trigger instabilities in the liquid metal flow. However, almost all experimental investigations are limited to water models so far. This restriction is mainly attributed to the non-availability of suitable diagnostic technique which allow for a satisfactory characterization of the gas bubbles inside the liquid metal. We present laboratory experiments using the eutectic alloy GaInSn which is liquid at room temperature. As an example, ultrasonic techniques were used to investigate the vortex activated entrainment of air at the free surface of a rotating flow. The X-ray radioscopy was applied to visualize the behaviour of Argon bubbles rising in the liquid metal. The measurements reveal distinct differences between water and GaInSn especially with respect to the process of bubble formation, the coalescence and the breakup of bubbles.

The process of melting and recycling magnesium alloys using fluxes produces a residue termed black dross. The black dross investigated contained metal and non-metallic phases with a considerable content of rare earth metals (REEs). The black dross was separated by crushing and screening into metal and non-metallic fractions. The non-metallic fraction was further processed by water and acid leaching. In the water leach, NaCl, KCl and CaCl2 were separated for crystallisation. In the acid leach the residue was treated with hydrochloric acid in order to dissolve the rare earth elements Ce, La, Nd and Pr. Selective precipitation by oxalic acid and solvent extraction using D2EHPA or PC88A enables a recovery of up to 92.6% of the REEs from the oxide-salt-fraction. The equilibrium isotherms of the solvent extraction operation indicate the potential for further separating the rare earth elements. A flow sheet of the whole processes was developed in order to guide industrial application.

The resonant scattering and diffraction beamline P09 at PETRA III at DESY is equipped with a 14 T vertical field split-pair magnet. A helium-3 refrigerator is available that can be fitted inside the magnet's variable-temperature insert. Here the results of a series of experiments aimed at determining the beam conditions permitting operations with the He-3 insert are presented. By measuring the tetragonal-to-orthorhombic phase transition occurring at 2.1 K in the Jahn-Teller compound TmVO₄, it is found that the photon flux at P09 must be attenuated down to 1.5 x 10⁹ photons s^-1 for the sample to remain at temperatures below 800 mK. Despite such a reduction of the incident flux and the subsequent use of a Cu(111) analyzer, the resonant X-ray magnetic scattering signal at the Tm L_III absorption edge associated with the spin-density wave in TmNi₂B₂C below 1.5 K is intense enough to permit a complete study in magnetic field and at sub-Kelvin temperatures to be carried out.

The recently installed and unique PIXE (particle-induced X-ray emission) set-up at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) is mainly dedicated to applications for a detailed overview of elemental composition over large sample areas within a short time even at trace level. The so-called High-Speed-PIXE (HS-PIXE), a combination of a pnCCD based pixel-detector with polycapillary X-ray optics, offers simultaneous imaging of sample areas up to 12 x 12 mm² with a lateral resolution better than 100 µm. Each of the 264 x 264 individual pixels detects X-ray photons in an energy range from 2 keV to 20 keV with an energy resolution of 156 eV (@Mn-Kα). A high precision sample manipulator offers the inspection of areas up to 250 x 250 mm². During first experiments the lateral resolution could be determined to (76 ± 23) µm using a sample of well-known sharp-edged chromium patterns. Trace element analysis has been performed using a geological sample, a tin ore, with an average Ta-concentration below 0.1 at.%. Fine-zoned structures became visible in the Ta-Lα intensity map within only 45 min. The High-Speed-PIXE closes a gap in the analytic process flow chain especially for geoanalytical characterisations. It is a unique and fast detection system to identify areas of interest in comparably short time at large-area scale for further analysis.

Seltene Erden (SE) werden in fast allen neuen Technologien eingesetzt, dennoch gibt es bis heute kein umweltfreundliches Recycling-Verfahren. Bei Verwertung von Energiesparlampen und Leuchtstoffröhren fallen in Deutschland jährlich rund 175 Tonnen Leuchtpulver an [1, 2], die aufgrund der Quecksilber-Belastung als Sondermüll gelagert werden müssen. Gebunden in den schwer wasser-löslichen Drei¬banden-Farbstoffen enthält das Leuchtpulver ca. 10% SE-Oxide [3]. Bei voll-ständigem Recycling könnten aus den Leuchtstoffabfällen folglich 17,5 Tonnen SE Oxide gewonnen werden. Bei den derzeit niedrigen SE-Preisen [4] entspräche das einem Wert von einer halben Million Dollar.
In dieser Arbeit wurde deshalb die mögliche Rückgewinnung von SE aus Leucht-pulver mithilfe von biohydro¬metallurgischen Techniken untersucht. Aufgrund der elektrochemischen Rand¬bedingungen, erscheint die Laugung mit organischen Säuren und metallbindenden Proteinen erfolgversprechender als Oxidations- oder Reduktions¬reaktionen [5, 6] Auf dieser Grundlage und der Literatur [7] wurden verschiedene hetero- und autotrophe aerobe Mikroorganismen (MO) als Rein- und Mischkultur ausgewählt. Mit den MO-Stämmen wurden zwei-wöchige Laugungs-experimente im Batch-Verfahren durchgeführt. Zur Bestimmung des Einflusses der MO wurden außerdem Experimente mit Kulturüberständen ohne MO gestartet. Mittels ICP-MS wurden die Konzentrationen von verschiedenen Metallionen der Dreibanden-Farbstoffe im Überstand bestimmt. Die gebildeten organischen Säuren wurden durch HPLC analysiert.
Erfolgversprechende Ergebnisse konnten mit den chemoorgano-heterotrophen MO Yarrowia lipolytica, Komatogateibacter xylinus und Lactobacillus casei sowie mit der Mischkultur Kombucha erzielt werden. Allen gemeinsam ist die Absenkung des pH-Wertes während der Kultivierung infolge der Bildung von organischen Säuren. Der Mechanismus für die Auflösung der Dreibanden-Farbstoffe ist daher wahrscheinlich mit der Carboxyl-Funktionalität verknüpft. Dennoch schienen auch die MO einen Einfluss auf die Solubilisierung zu haben, da bei den Experimenten mit Kultur¬überständen niedrigere Laugungsraten erzielt wurden. Diese Arbeiten zeigen erstmals, dass eine Biolaugung von Seltenen Erden aus technischen Produkten prinzipiell möglich ist.

[1] Gallenkemper, B. and J. Breer, Analyse der Datenerhebung nach ElektroG über die Berichtsjahre 2009 und 2010 zur Vorbereitung der EU-Berichtspflicht 2012, in Fachgebiet III 1.6, D. Hörig (Editor) 2012, Umweltbundesamt: Dessau-Rosslau, Ahlen.
[2] Lightcycle, Verwertbare Bestandteile von Altlampen, 2014, Riemann, Stephan.
[3] Haucke, E., T. Huckenbeck, and R. Otto, Verfahren zur Rückgewinnung seltener Erden aus Leuchtstofflampen, Osram AG, 2011: Germany.
[4] Argus Media: Metal-Pages, URL: https://www.metal-pages.com (Stand 29.07.2015)
[5] Evans, C.H., Biochemistry of the Lanthanides. Biochemistry of the Elements, Editor. E. Frieden. Vol. 1. 1990, New York, London: Plenum Press.
[6] Morss, L.R., Yttrium, Lanthanum, and the Lanthanide Elements, in Standard Potentials in Aqueous Solution, Editoren: A.J. Bard, R. Parsons, and J. Jordan. 1985, Marcel Dekker, Ink.: New York, Basel. p. 587-629.
[7] Krebs, W., et al., Microbial recovery of metals from solids. FEMS Microbiology Reviews, 1997. 20 (3-4): p. 605–617.

Rare earth elements (REE) are used in mostly all new technologies and until now, there is nearly no recycling of REE containing end-of-life products [1]. Furthermore, only poor information is available regarding interactions of microorganisms with REE and there are almost no studies describing the bioleaching of REE. However, it can be assumed that microorganisms play an important role in the biogeochemistry of REE. This study investigates the potential of organic acid producing microbes to extract REE from technical waste.
During recycling of energy-saving bulbs fluorescent phosphor (FP) is collected as a distinct fraction. It contains about 10% REE-oxides bound in the hardly water-soluble triband dyes as oxides, phosphates and aluminates [2]. In the present, the feasibility of the mixed culture Kombucha to dissolve the REE-compounds from FP was examined. Kombucha is a symbiosis of acetic bacteria and yeasts that grows on green tea with sucrose producing organic acids. Besides batch- and fed-batch approaches with the whole culture, also experiments with single Kombucha-organisms and culture supernatant were performed. The concentrations of the solubilised metal ions in the supernatant were measured with ICP-MS and the produced organic acids were analysed by HPLC. Futhermore, we tried to determine the microbial diversity trough DNA-analysis.
It could be shown, that the production of organic acids by the microoganisms of Kombucha lead to considerable higher concentrations of REE in the supernatant than in the control. These results show that it is possible to dissolve the REE compounds of FP by the help of microbial processes. Moreover, it provides the basis for the development of an eco-friendly alternative to the currently applied methods.

[1] European Commission (2014) On the review of the list of critical raw materials for the EU and the implementation of the Raw Materials Initiative, Brüssel. [2] Haucke et al. (2011) Verfahren zur Rückgewinnung seltener Erden aus Leuchtstofflampen, Osram AG.

Rare earth elements (REE) are used in mostly all new technologies and until now, there exists no environmentally friendly recycling-process for fluorescent phosphor (FP). Furthermore, China has with a worldwide market share of 94 % (Roskill, 2011) a virtual monopoly in the production of REE. Therefore, there is increasing demand for novel recycling technologies to secure the supply of REE. During recycling of energy-saving bulbs annually 175 tons of FP are collected as a distinct fraction (Gallenkemper and Breer 2012, Riemann 2014). It contains about 10% of REE-oxides, which are bound in the hardly water-soluble triband dyes as oxides, phosphates and aluminates (Hauke et al., 2014).
In this study the feasibility of the solubilisation of triband dyes by bio-hydrometal¬lurgical techniques is examined. Due to electrochemical restrictions, leaching with organic acids and metal binding molecules is more promising, than oxidation or reduction reactions (Evans 1990, Morss 1985). On this basis and the literature (e.g. Krebs et al., 1997), different auto- and heterotrophic aerobic microorganisms are selected. With these strains two weeks lasting batch-experiments were performed. The concentrations of several metal ions of the triband dyes in the supernatants were measured by ICP MS. Furthermore, the produced organic acids were analysed by HPLC.
With “classical” bio-leaching organisms no relevant leaching success could be achieved, since the pH-value in the media was increased by the FP, thus inhibiting the growth of microorganisms. In contrast, some chemo-organoheterotrophic species were able to solubilize REE-compounds. Particularly the bacteria Komatogateibacter xylinus, Lactobacillus casei and the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica turned out to be suitable. Common for all these strains is the lowering of the pH-value during the cultivation due to the production of organic acids (e.g. acetic, lactic or citric acid). Therefore, the underlying mechanism of triband dye solubilisation is probably connected with the carboxyl-functionality. Additionally it is conspicuous, that in all approaches especially the red dye yttrium europium oxide is affected. This is presumably because of the higher solubility of oxides in comparison to phosphates and aluminates in general.
These results show that it is possible to dissolve the REE-compunds of FP by the help of microbial processes. Moreover, it provides the basis for the development of an eco-friendly alternative to the currently applied methods.

As transistor dimensions continue to diminish, techniques for fabrication need to be adapted. In particular, crystal recovery post ion implantation is required due to destructive ion bombardment inducing crystal damage including amorphization. Here, we report a study on the post-implant recrystallization in germanium (Ge) nanowires (NWs) following gallium (Ga) ion doping. In this work a variation of NW diameters and orientations were irradiated and annealed in situ to investigate the mechanism of recrystallization. An added complication of misorientation of crystal grains increases the complexity of crystal recovery for suspended NWs. We show that when the misorientation is prevented, by leaving a crystal link between two seeds and providing a rigid support, recrystallization occurs primarily via solid phase epitaxial growth (SPEG). Finally, we demonstrate that topdown fabricated Ge NWs on insulator can be recovered with no extended defects. This work highlights both experimentally and through molecular dynamic simulations the importance of engineering crystal recovery in Ge NWs which may have potential for next-generation complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) devices.

The atomic mixing of matrix atoms during solid-phase epitaxy (SPE) is studied by means of isotopically enriched germanium (Ge) multilayer structures that were amorphized by Ge ion implantation up to a depth of 1.5 micrometer. Recrystallization of the amorphous structure is performed at temperatures between 350 °C and 450 °C. Secondary-ion-mass-spectrometry is used to determine the concentration-depth profiles of the Ge isotope before and after SPE. An upper limit of 0.5 nm is deduced for the displacement length of the Ge matrix atoms by the SPE process. This small displacement length is consistent with theoretical models and atomistic simulations of SPE, indicating that the SPE mechanism consists of bond-switching with nearest-neighbours across the amorphous-crystalline (a/c) interface.

Novel environmental-friendly technologies are required in order to secure the demand of industrial relevant metals, covering the fields of exploitation, beneficiation and recycling of rare elements.
Nature itself offers promising approaches in these fields. In our group we develop bio-based technologies for extracting, treating and recycling metals such as copper or rare earths using microbes, microbial metabolites or biomolecules. The presentation gives an overview of current research activities that are performed in our group.
Natural processes such as microbial weathering, biomineralization, or biosorption are highly attractive for biotechnological applications that intend the recovery of metals from primary and secondary resources.
Currently applied bioleaching concepts use acidophilic bacteria such as Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans for the extraction of metals from sulfidic ores. This approach is already used for the extraction of copper especially in ores with low metal content. Other concepts use metabolic products from microorganisms for indirect bioleaching processes. For example, in our group we investigate the use of heterotrophic bacteria for the extraction of strategic relevant elements such as copper and Rare Earth Elements from different sources.
Biosorption uses the metal binding capabilities of biomass or biomolecules for the recovery of metals from solutions. Such compounds can be immobilized on materials to construct metal selective filter materials. These materials enable an efficient removal of specific metals, are relatively cheap, and can be regenerated. In our group we use bacterial surface layer proteins (S-layers) for the construction of metal selective biocomposites. In other projects we select metal binding peptides using phage surface display technology. In a third approach we use metabolic products, e.g. metallophores, as complexing agents.
In conclusion, in combination with established physical and chemical processes, such biotechnological approaches have a high potential to improve metal beneficiation and recycling and contribute to environmentally friendly and sustainable processes.

Remote sensing data can provide valuable information about ore deposits and their alteration zones at surface level. However, small-scale, structurally controlled ore deposits require remotely sensed data with a very high spatial and spectral resolution. Due to their economic importance, carbonatite-hosted HREE deposits have become a focus of interest and provide a challenge for traditional remote sensing methods. Thus, in this study we focus on developing and testing new remote sensing exploration methods to detect carbonatites as potential host rocks in a well known deposit: Lofdal/Bergville Farm in the northern part of Namibia. The HREE-hosting carbonatite dykes have widths of 0.5 to 3 m. HREE got enriched within these small dykes and fractures during a post-carbonatite intrusion hydrothermal mineralization stage [1].

Several classification and unmixing algorithms were tested on airborne HyMap data. We observe a significant improvement of classification results by using a combination of spectral, textural and geomorphometric information in an expert-based approach compared to "traditional" classification algorithms. The extent of major dykes and the main intrusion could be reproduced very accurately. Thus, we recognize that carbonatites are associated with specific geometric patterns that help to improve classification results. Furthermore, the structures found by Automated lineament extraction (TecLines Toolbox [2]) agree with the orientation of mapped structures in the area and provide more detail to the original mapping.

However, a major difficulty that arised during this study was the still inadequate spatial resolution of 5 m for mapping most of the dykes. Small-scale alteration zones and narrow dykes cannot be detected or mapped correctly. Furthermore, the spectral signature of the surrounding host rocks is similar to the carbonatites and the fenitization zone. Including geometric information into the classification does not lead to significant improvement.

High spatial and spectral resolution is essential for accurate mapping of those narrow mineralized structures. Therefore, we hope to handle these problems by using high-resolution drone-borne systems for hyperspectral imaging, geophysics and 3D photogrammetry.

References
[1] Anthony-Jones, W., Bau, M. and Wall, F. (2014): Rare Earth Element deposits. Proceedings of the 13th Freiberg Short Course in Economic Geology, TU Bergakademie Freiberg

[2] Rahnama, M. and Gloaguen, R. (2014): TecLines: A MATLAB-Based Toolbox for Tectonic Lineament Analysis from Satellite Images and DEMs, Part 1: Line Segment Detection and Extraction, Remote Sensing 6: 5938–5958

An efficient burning of the plutonium produced during light water reactor (LWR) operation has the potential to significantly improve the sustainability indices of LWR operation. The work offers a comparison of the efficiency of the Pu burning in different reactor configurations - a molten salt fast reactor, a LWR with MOX fuel, and a sodium cooled fast reactor. The calculations are performed using the HELIOS 2 code. All results are evaluated against the plutonium burning efficiency determined in the CAPRA project. The results are discussed with special view on the increased sustainability of LWR use in the case of successful avoidance of an accumulation of Pu which otherwise would have to be forwarded to a final disposal. A strategic discussion is given about the unavoidable plutonium production, the possibility to burn the plutonium to avoid a burden for the future generations which would have to be controlled.

Electron-positron pair production by the superposition of two laser pulses with different frequencies and amplitudes is analyzed as a particular realization of the assisted dynamic Schwinger effect. It is demonstrated that, within a non-perturbative kinetic equation framework, an amplification effect is conceivable for certain parameters. When both pulses have wavelengths longer than the Compton wavelength, the residual net density of produced pairs is determined by the resultant field strength. The number of pairs starts to grow rapidly if the wavelength of the high-frequency laser component gets close to the Compton wavelength.

Electron-positron pair production by the Breit-Wheeler process embedded in a strong laser pulse is analyzed. The transverse momentum spectrum displays prominent peaks which are interpreted as caustics, the positions of which are accessible by the stationary phases. Examples are given for the superposition of an XFEL beam with an optical high-intensity laser beam. Such a configuration is available, e.g., at LCLS at present and at European XFEL in near future. It requires a counter propagating probe photon beam with high energy which can be generated by synchronized inverse Compton backscattering.

The determination of absolute widths of two observed levels above the proton threshold in 15N has been improved by a combined analysis of our recent 15N(gamma,gamma′)15N∗ photon scattering data, resonance strengths omegagamma of the 14C(p,gamma)15N reaction, and gamma-ray branchings b_gamma,i in 15N. The revised data are compared to the adopted values, and some inconsistencies in the adopted values are illustrated.

A very low background level is a key requirement for low-energy nuclear astrophysics experiments. A detailed high energy (E_gamma > 3 MeV) gamma-background study with two escape-suppressed HPGe detectors has been performed at a medium deep underground site, in the Reiche Zeche mine (150 m) in Freiberg, Germany [1]. The new data complement a data set with the same detector at the Earth's surface, shallow underground (45 m) in the Felsenkeller laboratory in Dresden, Germany [2], and deep underground (1400 m) in LNGS in Gran Sasso, Italy [3]. The detailed background data from one and the same escape-suppressed HPGe detector at different underground depths allows the investigation of the effect of the active and passive shielding on the high energy (E_gamma > 3 MeV) laboratory background. A detailed interpretation of the behaviour of different background components as a function of the underground depth will be presented. The data show that already a shallow underground site has sufficiently low gamma-background for many nuclear astrophysics studies when an additional active shield is used to veto the remaining muon flux. Benefiting from these low background conditions, a used 5MV Pelletron tandem accelerator is currently being refurbished for installation at the Dresden Felsenkeller [4].
[1] T. Szücs et al., Eur. Phys. J. A 51, 33 (2015).
[2] T. Szücs et al., Eur. Phys. J. A 48, 8 (2012).
[3] T. Szücs et al., Eur. Phys. J. A 44, 513 (2010).
[4] D. Bemmerer et al., Proc. of Sciences NIC XIII, 044 (2015).

The paper describes the simulation of a plunging jet. A generalized approach developed for the simulation of two-phase flow problems with multi-scale interfacial structures is applied for this problem. The GEneralized TwO Phase flow (GENTOP) modeling approach considers different scales in term of interfacial structure. The explicit statistical simulation of the interface between continuous gas and fluid is combined with the Euler/Euler simulation of dispersed gas. For the dispersed gas the Multiple Size Group (MUSIG) approach simulates different bubble sizes. The mass transfer between the bubble sizes is considered by bubble breakup and coalescence models. The gas entrainment during the plunging jet is described by the transition between continuous gas and dispersed gas. Here for a special sub grid model is applied.
This set of models is applied for the simulation of plunging jet experiments performed by Chanson et al. (2004). In the tests different geometric scale of plunging jet were investigated and here analyzed. The paper shows the capabilities of this approach and identifies weak points which need further development.

In this contribution new approaches for the development of alternative, selectively binding biosorption materials for metal recyclables on the basis of bacterial surface proteins and peptides are presented and discussed.

The gamma-ray strength functions and level densities of 73,74Ge have been extracted up to the neutron separation energy Sn from particle- coincidence data using the Oslo method. Moreover, the gamma-ray strength function of 74Ge above Sn has been determined from photo-neutron measurements; hence these two experiments cover the range of E = 1 - 13 MeV for 74 Ge. The obtained data show that both 73,74 Ge display an increase in strength at low energies. The experimental strength functions are compared with M1 strength functions deduced from average B(M1) values calculated within the shell model for a large number of transitions. The observed low-energy enhancements in 73,74 Geare adopted in the calculations of the 72,73Ge(n,gamma) cross sections, where there are no direct experimental data. Reaction rate calculations for more neutron-rich germanium isotopes are shown to be sensitive to a low-energy enhancement.

Since its release as open source in 2013, PIConGPU is the fastest published 3D3V Particle-in-Cell (PIC) code in the world in terms of sustained peak performance with 7.2 Pflop/s scaling up to 18'432 GPUs on Titan (ORNL). Accelerator hardware is the key technology enabling an order-of-magnitude increase in computational power over conventional CPUs, but on the same time requires a general rethinking of particle-mesh and particle-particle algorithms in terms of multi-level parallelism.
We present the challenges that are common to all PIC codes in a heterogeneous computing environment and possible solutions in PIConGPU. Starting from a general description of mesh-based operations over communication and latency hiding down to efficient caching and register usage, a sustainable programming technique is explained that is both interchangeable in algorithms and performance portable.
The continuing trend of steady increase in theoretical peak performance for the world's leading machines diverges significantly from the bandwidths that are available for high-performance file systems, causing substantial change in established imulation and analysis chains. In-situ and staged processing are approaches to bridge that gap and will be presented on routines that are either memory limited, computationally highly expensive or communication bound.
Quantitatively, a dramatically lowered time-to-solution is the direct advantage of a many-core accelerated based PIC code. The former is indispensable for an equally significant, qualitative scientific improvement that allows to incorporate multi-physics models that are beyond the simple averaging over ensembles, e.g., kinetic collision and non-LTE ionization models. The potential impact for laser-ion acceleration on solid density targets will be illustrated in an example.

Purpose: Laser-driven proton acceleration is suggested as a cost- and space-efficient alternative for future radiation therapy centers, although the properties of these beams are fairly different compared to conventionally accelerated proton beams. The laser-driven proton beam is extremely pulsed containing a very high proton number within ultrashort bunches at low bunch repetition rates of few Hz and the energy spectrum of the protons per bunch is very broad. Moreover, these laser accelerated bunches are subject to shot-to-shot fluctuations. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of a compact gantry design for laser-driven proton therapy and to determine limitations to comply with. Methods: Based on a published gantry beam line design which can filter parabolic spectra from an exponentially decaying broad initial spectrum, a treatment planning study was performed on real patient data sets. All potential parabolic spectra were fed into a treatment planning system and numerous spot scanning proton plans were calculated. To investigate limitations in the fluence per bunch, the proton number of the initial spectrum and the beam width at patient entrance were varied. A scenario where only integer shots are delivered as well as an intensity modulation from shot to shot was studied. The resulting plans were evaluated depending on their dosimetric quality and in terms of required treatment time. In addition, the influence of random shot-to-shot fluctuations on the plan quality was analyzed. Results: The study showed that clinically relevant dose distributions can be produced with the system under investigation even with integer shots. For small target volumes receiving high doses per fraction, the initial proton number per bunch must remain between 1.4×108 and 8.3×109 to achieve acceptable delivery times as well as plan qualities. For larger target volumes and standard doses per fraction, the initial proton number is even more restricted to stay between 1.4×109 and 2.9×109. The lowest delivery time that could be reached for such a case was 16 min for a 10 Hz system. When modulating the intensity from shot to shot, the delivery time can be reduced to 6 min for this scenario. Since the shot-to-shot fluctuations are of random nature, a compensation effect can be observed, especially for higher laser shot numbers. Therefore, a fluctuation of ±30% within the proton number does not translate into a dosimetric deviation of the same size. However, for plans with short delivery times these fluctuations cannot cancel out sufficiently, even for ±10% fluctuations. Conclusions: Under the analyzed terms, it is feasible to achieve clinically relevant dose distributions with laser-driven proton beams. However, to keep the delivery times of the proton plans comparable to conventional proton plans for typical target volumes, a device is required which can modulate the bunch intensity from shot to shot. From the laser acceleration point of view, the proton number per bunch must be kept under control as well as the reproducibility of the bunches.

Analytical codes dedicated to the analysis of Ion Beam Analysis data rely on the accuracy of both the calculations and of basic data such as scattering cross sections and stopping powers. So far, the effect of the beam charge state of the incoming beam has been disregard by general purpose analytical codes such as NDF. In fact, the codes implicitly assume that the beam is always in the equilibrium charge state, by using tabulated stopping power values e.g. from SRIM, which are in principle valid for the equilibrium charge state. The dependence of the stopping power with the charge state is ignored. This assumption is reasonable in most cases, but for high resolution studies the actual change of the charge state from the beam charge state towards equilibrium as it enters and traverses the sample must be taken into account, as it influences the shape of the observed data. In this work, we present an analytical calculation, implemented in NDF, that takes this effect into account. For elastic recoil detection analysis (ERDA), the changing charge state of the recoils can also be taken into account. We apply the calculation to the analysis of experimental high depth resolution ERDA data for various oxide layers collected using a magnetic spectrometer.

Polycrystalline alumina samples (α-Al2O3, purity: 99.8%) were irradiated with 63Cu5+63Cu5+ ions of 32 MeV kinetic energy (≈0.5 MeV/u) up to fluences of 1E14 ions/cm2 at various temperatures ranging from 295 to 973 K. Ion beam induced luminescence and emission spectra were monitored at wavelengths from 320 to 800 nm. Optical absorption measurements were performed to deduce color center formation. Results were evaluated by the Birks model to determine the material’s radiation hardness. The applicability of alumina as scintillation screens for ion beam diagnostics could be extended by enhanced temperature operation. Analysis of the emission spectra shows a complex color center formation behavior as a function of fluence and temperature.

We present picosecond Yb:YAG and Yb:CaF2 regenerative laser amplifiers with ultra-high repetition rates in the MHz range. A maximum pulse energy of 40 uJ was obtained at 20 kHz while we achieved around 1 uJ at 1 MHz. We demonstrated a pulse duration of 2.1 ps for Yb:YAG and 4.8 ps for Yb:CaF2 when seeded by a mode-locked Yb:KGW fs-oscillator without pulse stretching or phase compensation.

The formation of Al (oxy)hydroxide on the basal surface of muscovite mica was investigated to understand how the structure of the substrate controls the nucleation and growth of secondary phases. Atomic force microscopy images showed that solid phases nucleated on the surface initially as two-dimensional islands that were ≤10 Å in height and 100–200 Å in diameter after 16–50 h of reaction in a 100 μM AlCl3 solution at pH 4.2 at room temperature. High-resolution X-ray reflectivity data indicated that these islands had an internal atomic structure that resembles a single gibbsite layer, i.e., a plane of Al ions octahedrally coordinated to oxygen or hydroxyl groups. The formation of a gibbsite layer is likely favored because of the structural similarity between its basal plane and the underlying mica surface. After 700–2000 h of reaction, thicker and continuous films formed on top of the gibbsite-layer coated mica surface. X-ray diffraction data showed that these films were composed of diaspore whose formation was predicted by thermodynamic calculations. This diaspore film grew predominantly with its (040) and (140) crystallographic directions oriented along the muscovite (001) direction, indicating that the preformed metastable gibbsite layer acted as a structural anchor for the subsequent growth of thermodynamically stable diaspore.

This paper is an experimental investigation of the structure evolution and the solute distribution of 2 mm thick strips of Fe-(2.6, 4.2, 4.7, 7.9wt.%)Ni peritectic alloy under a near-rapid solidification condition, which were in the regions of d-ferrite single-phase, hypo-peritectic, hyper-peritectic and γ-austenite single-phase, respectively. The highest area ratio of equiaxed grain zone in the hyper-peritectic of Fe-4.7wt.%Ni alloy strip was observed, while other strips were mainly columnar grains. The lowest micro-segregation was obtained in the Fe7.9wt.%Ni alloy strip, while micro-segregation in the Fe-4.7wt.%Ni alloy was the highest. As opposed to the microsegregation, the macro-segregation of all the Fe-Ni strips was suppressed due to the rapid solidification rate. Finally, the structure formation mechanism of Fe-Ni alloy strips was analyzed.

Silicon films with Ga-rich nanoprecipitates are superconductors or insulators in dependence on their normal state resistance. Even in the insulating state of the film superconducting nanoprecipitates exist below the critical temperature of 7 K and determine its complex transport behavior. In this range sometimes large, random resistance jumps appear that are accompanied by little temperature changes. The resistance fluctuates between a well-defined low-resistance value and a broader band of higher resistances. Jumps to higher resistance are associated with a temperature decrease and vice versa. We present experimental results on these fluctuations and suppose a first order phase transition in the film as probable origin.

The implantations were performed in 4H silicon carbide homoepitaxial layers deposited on (00.1) substrates with 8° offcut, and reference 4H-SiC substrates. The 2MeV Se+ ions and 1MeV Al+ ions were implanted with four fluences subsequently increased by the factor of 4-5×. The samples were studied by means of X-ray diffraction topography, high-resolution diffractometry, specular X-ray reflectometry, and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry\channeling method. The dislocation density in the samples evaluated from the diffraction topographs did not exceed 5×103cm-2. The representative roughness values evaluated from the reflectometric measurements was 2.3±0.1nm for the substrates and less than 1.4±0.1nm for the epitaxial layers. A significantly higher damage level in the case of 2MeV Se+ ions in comparison with 1MeV Al+ ion and a linear increase of the strain with the fluence was indicated, but the highest doses of selenium ions caused the amorphization of the implanted layer. It was also possible to obtain a good fitting of the theoretical and experimental diffraction curves approximating the strain profiles by the distribution of the point defects calculated with the SRIM 2008 code. It was confirmed that the maximum coming from surface damages observed in channeling spectra of the virgin substrate wafers was significantly higher than in the case of epitaxial layers.

Complex study of magnetic, magnetocaloric and structural properties of the Ni₂MnSn and Ni_1.92Mn_1.56Sn_0.52 compounds was performed. The stoichiometric single-crystal of Ni₂MnSn was prepared by Czochralski method. The remarkable pressure effect on the martensitic magnetization and the martensite-austenite transition temperature T_M–A was observed in the Ni_1.92Mn_1.56Sn_0.52 compound. The coefficient dT_M–A/dp reached value of 18 K/GPa. The already low value of martensite magnetization of Ni_1.92Mn_1.56Sn_0.52 was further substantially decreased by external pressure, in contrast with pressure almost insensitive magnetization of the stoichiometric Ni₂MnSn single-crystal. The pulse magnetic field of 58 T invoked the structural transition at temperature 180 K that is of about 100 K below T_M–A of Ni_1.92Mn_1.56Sn_0.52 at zero field. An anomalous increase of resistivity of the compound has been observed at temperature range below T_M–A, however, it does not copy the sharp change of magnetization at T_M–A. The obtained results indicate the important role of interatomic distances on the magnetic ordering and electronic structure of the studied Heusler alloys and are in agreement with the Jahn-Teller mechanism of the martensitic transition in these compounds.

Process tomography aims at non-invasive dynamic imaging and measurement of industrial processes and multiphase flows. In recent years different modalities, based on e.g. electrical measurements, X-ray, gamma ray or neutron transmission, positron emission, ultrasound and visible light, have been developed into technical solutions and stimulated the work of scientists and engineers in many application fields, such as chemical and process engineering, oil and gas production, power engineering, fundamental research on flow mechanics as well as CFD code development.

The symposium provides a platform for scientists and engineers to introduce and discuss recent advances in process tomography and its application in industrial process analysis and control, multiphase flow measurement and dynamic non-destructive testing. It continues a series of preceding events in Jurata 2000, Wroclaw 2002, Lodz 2004, Warzaw 2006, Zakopane 2008, and Cape Town 2011.

Process tomography aims at non-invasive dynamic imaging and measurement of industrial processes and multiphase flows. In recent years different modalities, based on e.g. electrical measurements, X-ray, gamma ray or neutron transmission, positron emission, ultrasound and visible light, have been developed into technical solutions and stimulated the work of scientists and engineers in many application fields, such as chemical and process engineering, oil and gas production, power engineering, fundamental research on flow mechanics as well as CFD code development.

The symposium provides a platform for scientists and engineers to introduce and discuss recent advances in process tomography and its application in industrial process analysis and control, multiphase flow measurement and dynamic non-destructive testing. It continues a series of preceding events in Jurata 2000, Wroclaw 2002, Lodz 2004, Warzaw 2006, Zakopane 2008, and Cape Town 2011.

Considering the worldwide growing discharge of minor actinides and the current need for geological disposal facilities for radioactive waste, this work provides a contribution to the safety case concerning Np transport if it would be released from deep repository sites and moving from alkaline cement conditions (near-field) to more neutral environmental conditions (far-field). The reducing conditions in a nuclear waste repository render neptunium tetravalent, which is assumed to be immobile in aqueous environment due to the low solubility solution of Np(IV). For tetravalent actinide nuclides, the most significant transport should occur via colloidal particles. This work demonstrates the formation of intrinsic neptunium dioxide nanocrystals and amorphous Np(IV) silica colloids under environmentally relevant conditions.

The dissociation of the initial soluble Np(IV) complex (i.e. [Np(IV)(CO3)5]6-) induces the intrinsic formation of nanocrystalline NpO2 in the solution phase. The resulting irregularly shaped nanocrystals with an average size of 4 nm exhibit a face-centered cubic (fcc), fluorite-type structure (space group ). The NCs tend to agglomerate under ambient conditions due to the weakly charged hydrodynamic surface at neutral pH (zetapotential ~0 mV). The formation of micron-sized agglomerates, composed of nanocrystals of 2-5 nm in size, and the subsequent precipitation cause immobilization of the major amount of Np(IV) in the Np carbonate system. Agglomeration of NpO2 nanocrystals in dependence on time was indicated by PCS and UV-vis absorption spectroscopy with the changes of baseline characteristics and absorption maximum at 742 nm.

Hitherto, unknown polynuclear species as intermediate species of NpO2 nanocrystal formation were isolated from solution and observed by HR-TEM. These polynuclear Np species appear as dimers, trimers and hexanuclear compounds in analogy with those reported for other actinides.

Intrinsic formation of NpO2 (fcc) nanocrystals under ambient environmental conditions is prevented by admixing silicic acid: amorphous Np(IV) silica colloids are formed when silicate is present in carbonate solution.

Herein, the initial molar ratio of Si to Np in solution lead to the formation of Np(IV) silica particles of different composition and size where Si content determines the structure and stability of resulting colloids. Implications for different electronic structures of Np(IV) in dependence on Si content in the solid phase are given by the shift of the absorption maximum at 742 nm characteristic for Np(IV) colloids, silica excess of 5 times the magnitude of Si to Np reveal a redshift up to 6 nm in the colloidal UV-vis spectrum. Precipitation of Np(IV) particles in the ternary system results in a different coordination sphere of Np(IV) compared to the binary system, and the incorporation of Si into internal structure of Np(IV) silica colloids in coffinite-like structure is confirmed by EXAFS. TEM confirms different kinds of particle morphologies in dependence on the silica content. Silica-poor systems reveal porous particles in the micron-range which consist of irregular cross-linked hydrolyzed Np(IV) silica compartments with pores <15 nm.

In contrast, long-term stabilized and silica-enriched systems are characterized by isolated particles with an average particle size of 45 nm. Agglomerates of such isolated Np(IV) silica particles appear as consolidated amorphous solids with a densely closed surface and exhibit no internal fractures. The latter mentioned morphology of Np(IV) silica particles might facilitate the migration behavior of Np(IV) in a stabilized colloidal form under environmental conditions. The silica-enriched particles with densely closed surface are long-term stabilized as colloidal dispersion (>1 year) due to repulsion effects caused by significant surface charge. Particles synthesized from Si/Np = 9/1 carry exclusively negative surface charge in nearly the whole pH range from pH 3 to pH 10 with zetapotential = (-) 5 to (-) 30 mV. The zeta potentials of all particle systems containing silica are significantly shifted to more negative values below pH 7 where the isoelectrical point shifts from pH = 8.0 to 2.6 effecting negative charge under ambient conditions which supports electrostatic stabilization of Np(IV) particles. Particle surface charge at the slipping plane, particle size and shape necessarily depend on the initial magnitude of Si content in solution during particle formation. Particular changes of the morphology and internal structure of different Np(IV) silica colloids by aging are indicated by TEM and XPS. The composition and the crystallinity state of the initially formed amorphous phases partially changed into well-ordered nanocrystalline units characterized with fcc structure.

The presence of silicate under conditions expected in a nuclear waste repository significantly influences the solubility of Np(IV) and provoke the stabilization of waterborne Np(IV) up to concentrations of 10-3 M, exceeding Np´s solubility limit by a factor of up 10.000.

Neptunium and silicate significantly interact with each other, and thereby changing their individual hydrolysis and polymerization behavior. Silicate prevents the intrinsic formation of NpO2 NCs in fcc-structure, and at the same time, Np(IV) prevents the polymerization of silicate. Both processes result in the formation of Np(IV) silica colloids which possibly influence the migration behavior and fate of Np in the waste repositories and surrounding environments. For tetravalent actinides in general, the most significant transport in the environment would occur by colloidal particles. Therefore, Np(IV) silica colloids could have a significant implication in the migration of Np, the important minor actinide in the waste repositories, via colloidal transport.

Geological mapping in the Eastern Desert is impeded by difficult accessibility. We improve the existing geological maps by including texture features in a classification scheme of ASTER and Landsat 8 data. We tested the improvement of support vector machine classification using band ratios, principal component analysis (PCA) and texture analysis in the Ras Gharib segment (NE Egypt). A very high classification overall accuracy of 99.85% was achieved. We demonstrate that the input of textures provide valuable additional data for lithological mapping. With the gained information, the existing geological map of the study area was improved distinctly in precision and resolution, but also in terms of correction of yet wrong or inaccurate locations and of lithological unit extents.

Innovative americium-bearing uranium-plutonium mixed oxides U1-yPuyO2-x are envisioned as nuclear fuel for next generation Sodium-cooled Fast neutron Reactors (SFRs). The Oxygen-to-Metal (O/M) ratio, directly related to the oxidation state of cations, affects many of the fuel properties. Thus, a thorough knowledge of its variation with the sintering conditions is essential. The aim of this work is to follow the oxidation state of uranium, plutonium and americium, and so the O/M ratio, in U0.750Pu0.246Am0.004O2-x samples sintered for 4 h at 2023 K in various Ar + 5% H2 + z vpm H2O (z = ~15, ~90 and ~200) gas mixtures. The O/M ratios were determined by gravimetry, XAS and XRD and evidenced a partial oxidation of the samples at room temperature. Finally, by comparing XANES and EXAFS results to that of a previous study, we demonstrate that the presence of uranium does not influence the interactions between americium and plutonium and that the differences in the O/M ratio between the investigated conditions is controlled by the reduction of plutonium. We also discuss the role of the homogeneity of cation distribution on the mechanisms involved into the reduction process.

A dying massive star ends in a supernova explosion ejecting a large fraction of its mass into the interstellar medium. If this happens nearby, part of the ejecta might end on Solar System bodies and, in fact, radioactive ⁶⁰Fe has been detected on the Pacific ocean floor in about 2 Ma old layers. Here, we report on the detection of this isotope also in lunar samples, originating presumably from the same event. The concentration of the cosmic ray produced isotope ⁵³Mn, measured in the same samples, proves the supernova origin of the ⁶⁰Fe. From the ⁶⁰Fe concentrations found we deduce a reliable value for the local interstellar fluence in the range of 1 × 10⁸ at/cm². Thus, we obtain constraints on the recent and nearby supernova(e).

no abstract available

a new BIT model dependent on bubble Reynolds number is proposed and validated in a more complex bi-dispersed bubbly channel flow.

The paper presents Euler-Euler Large Eddy Simulations of dispersed bubbly flow in a rectangular bubble column at a low Reynolds number. The physical models describing the momentum exchange between the phases including drag, lift and wall force were chosen according to previous experiences of the authors. The emphasis of the study is the analysis of bubbly flows concerning the investigation of the influence of the bubble-induced turbulence model. It is found that the presented modeling combination provides fairly good agreement with experimental data for the mean flow. The impact of the modeling on the liquid velocity fluctuations is investigated and the energy spectrum obtained from the resolved velocity is discussed.

Prediction of mean flow and turbulent parameter with Euler-Euler-LES

In order to follow Moore’s law on the path to smaller and smaller devices, more and more materials have to be integrated into Si technology. Current research activities focus on the integration of Ge and binary III-V compounds into Si, as these materials promise a further transistor performance increase due to their high hole and electron mobility, respectively. In addition, the direct band gap of most of the compound semiconductors is of great interest for optoelectronic applications. However, the integration into Si generates a lot of challenges regarding both the quality of the III-V material itself and the quality of its interfaces. At present, most integration technologies rely on molecular beam epitaxy or similar growth mechanisms. Recently, we showed that III-V nanocrystals (NC) in Si can also be fabricated by sequential ion implantation followed by flash lamp annealing (FLA) [1]. Moreover, the use of a patterned implantation mask allows the fabrication of III-V NCs in a Si nanowire at defined positions [2].

In this presentation we extend our previous investigations to the case of Ge. In order to get a better understanding of the NC formation process, InAs and GaAs NCs were fabricated in Si and Ge by ion implantation and FLA, and their structural and electric properties were compared to each other. It will be shown that the recrystallization of the near-surface layer of amorphous substrate material (Si or Ge), together with the NC formation, is rather governed by liquid phase than by solid phase epitaxy. This scenario is supported by the evaluation of the corresponding segregation and diffusion coefficients, the temperature profile during FLA and the final size distribution of the NCs.

[1] S. Prucnal, S. Facsko, C. Baumgart, H. Schmidt, M.O. Liedke, L. Rebohle, A. Shalimov, H. Reuther, A. Kanjilal, A. Mucklich, M. Helm, J. Zuk, and W. Skorupa, Nano Lett. 11, Issue 7, 2814-2818 (2011)
[2] S. Prucnal, M. Glaser, A. Lugstein, E. Bertagnolli, M. Stöger-Pollach, S. Zhou, M. Helm, D. Reichel, L. Rebohle, M. Turek, J. Zuk, and W. Skorupa, Nano Res. 7, 1769 (2014)

In this paper, we propose using a terahertz quantumwell photodetector (THz QWP) in combination with a terahertz source to realize a detection system with photon-noise limited performance (PLIP) at high temperatures. Systematical investigations on the high-temperature performances of THz QWPs, including required signal power density for PLIP, detectivity, and the signal-to-noise ratio, have been carried out by elaborating their dark current mechanism and photocurrent response both experimentally and theoretically. We also present the optimal doping concentration of THz QWPs designed for different peak wavelengths and the resulting optimum performance regarding the above three key parameters. Numerical results show that optimal designed QWP with peak response frequency of 5.5 THz is expected to achieve PLIP at 77 K at signal power density at 819 W/cm and above. This work gives a precise description of PLIP performance of THz QWPs and will open ways for new applications for high-temperature detection in the THz regime.

Here we propose to exploit the low energy bandwidth, small wavelength and penetration power of ultrashort pulses from XFELs for resonant Small Angle Scattering (SAXS) on plasma structures in laser excited plasmas. Small angle scattering allows to detect nanoscale density fluctuations in forward scattering direction. Typically, the SAXS signal from laser excited plasmas is expected to be dominated by the free electron distribution. We propose that the ionic scattering signal becomes visible when the X-ray energy is in resonance with an electron transition between two bound states (Resonant coherent X-ray diffraction, RCXD). In this case the scattering cross-section dramatically increases so that the signal of X-ray scattering from ions silhouettes against the free electron scattering background which allows to measure the opacity and derived quantities with high spatial and temporal resolution, being fundamentally limited only by the X-ray wavelength and timing. Deriving quantities such as ion spatial distribution, charge state distribution and plasma temperature with such high spatial and temporal resolution will make a vast number of processes in shortpulse laser-solid interaction accessible for direct experimental observation e.g. hole-boring and shock propagation, filamentation and instability dynamics, electron transport, heating and ultrafast ionization dynamics.

We directly trace the near- and midinfrared transmission change of a VO2 thin film during an ultrafast insulator-to-metal transition triggered by high-field multiterahertz transients. Nonthermal switching into a metastable metallic state is governed solely by the amplitude of the applied terahertz field. In contrast to resonant excitation below the threshold fluence, no signatures of excitonic self-trapping are observed. Our findings are consistent with the generation of spatially separated charge pairs and a cooperative transition into a delocalized metallic state by THz field-induced tunneling. The tunneling process is a condensed-matter analog of the Schwinger effect in nonlinear quantum electrodynamics. We find good agreement with the pair production formula by replacing the Compton wavelength with an electronic correlation length of 2.1 A° .

Combining high power lasers with x-ray lasers provides unique opportunities to study ultrafast, transient processes in solid-density plasmas. We present simulation studies of probing ionization dynamics, electron transport and heating of solid-density targets driven by high power lasers with state-of-the-art X-ray lasers. We show that a precise understanding of the underlying atomic physics processes is necessary and needs to be implemented in kinetic simulations of the laser plasma interaction. Our results show that albeit the complexity of atomic processes happening during the laser plasma interaction, the very same processes can be exploited to understand the temporal evolution of the plasma.

Bispecific antibodies (bsAbs) engaging T cells are emerging as a promising immunotherapeutic tool for the treatment of hematologic malignancies. Because their low molecular mass, bsAbs have short half-lives. To achieve clinical responses, they have to be infused into patients continously, for a long period of time. As a valid alternative we examined the use of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) as autonomous cellular machines for the constant production of a recently described, fully humanized anti-CD33-anti-CD3 bsAb, which is capable of redirecting human T cells against CD33-expressing leukemic cells. The immortalized human MSC line SCP-1 was genetically modified into expressing bsAb at sufficient amounts to redirect T cells efficiently against CD33 presenting target cells, both in vitro and in an immunodeficient mouse model. Moreover, T cells of patients suffering from acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in blast crisis eliminated autologous leukemic cells in the presence of the bsAb secreting MSCs over time. The immune response against AML cells could be enhanced further by providing T cells an additional co-stimulus via the
CD137-CD137 ligand axis through CD137L expression on MSCs. This study demonstrates that MSCs have the potential to be used as cellular production machines for bsAb-based tumor immunotherapy in the future.

Self-organization of nanopatterns on solid surfaces by ion irradiation is a well-established technique to create regular and ordered structures like ripples or dots. Characteristics of patterns can be controlled selecting different ion species as well as by varying their energy, fluence, incidence angle or the sample temperature during irradiation. To date, mostly monatomic ions with masses between 40 (Ar) and 131 amu (Xe) were used for self-organized nanopatterning or contrary for surface smoothing. A comprehensive review is given.Here, self-organization of periodic patterns by bombardment with polyatomic/cluster ion species with masses of up to ~835 amu is studied – a regime not explored so far. Each impact of a very heavy polyatomic projectile deposits within femtoseconds an extremely high energy density into a local, near-surface volume. The achieved energy density exceeds that of irradiation with monatomic ions of medium mass considerably, it is of the order of femtosecond laser irradiation or swift heavy ion bombardment. Therefore, compared to former ion-induced pattern formation, different pattern based on different mechanisms can be expected.A new quality of pattern on Ge surfaces are obtained by Bi2, Bi3, Bi4 and Au2, Au3 ion irradiation. Polyatomic ions are provided by liquid metal (alloy) ion sources (LM(A)IS) in a mass-separating 30 kV focused ion beam (FIB) system. Results are compared to monatomic Bi and Au ion irradiation using otherwise equivalent irradiation parameters. For this, SEM and AFM were applied to investigate the pattern formation in dependence on ion species, energy per projectile atom, fluence, incidence angle and target temperature. Finally, a consistent, qualitative model for the surface evolution relating on energy density deposition sufficient for localized, transient nano melt pool formation is discussed.

A clear understanding of erosion processes is fundamental in order to comprehend the evolution of actively deforming mountain ranges. However, the relative contributions of tectonic and climatic factors and their feedbacks remain highly debated. In order to contribute to the debate, we quantify basin-wide denudation rates from cosmogenic ¹⁰Be concentrations in modern river sediments in the Pamir. This mountain range is a unique natural laboratory because the ongoing India–Eurasia collision sustains high deformation rates and, on account of its position at the transition between Westerlies and monsoon, a strong regional climatic variability arises. Sample acquisition and preparation for accelerator mass spectrometry measurements were challenging due to difficult field accessibility, low quartz and high feldspar concentrations and crystal coating. Six samples along the main draining river, the Panj, and five samples within the major, east–west elongated tributary basins allow us to quantify basin-wide denudation rates for the first time in this orogen. An average denudation rate of 0.64 mm yr^-1 reveals a rapid evolution of the entire Pamir. Denudation rates of tributary sub-basins highlight the strong contrast between the Pamir Plateau (0.05 to 0.16 mm yr^-1) and its margins (0.54 to 1.45 mm ^-1). The intensity of denudation is primarily correlated with geometric properties of the surface, such as slope steepness (0.75 quartiles; R² of 0.81), and to a lesser extent to climatic factors such as precipitation. We thus argue that either tectonic uplift or base-level lowering are the main contributors to denudation processes. Multiple linear regression analysis (best R²of 0.93) suggests that precipitation may act as a limiting factor to denudation.
The highest denudation rates coincide with areas of the northwestern Pamir margin that receive precipitation predominantly from the Westerlies during winter. There, the concentrated discharge during spring and early summer may sustain the pronounced denudation and allow the rapid sediment transport out of the basins. Low slope angles and dry conditions hamper the sediment flux on the plateau and, consequently, denudation. The magnitude of denudation in the Pamir is similar to rates determined in the southern Himalaya despite very different climatic and tectonic conditions. The discrepancy between rates of basin-wide denudation and the fluvial incision that is up to 10 times higher evidences a transient landscape in the Pamir. This underpins the hypothesis that river captures may have caused the strong base-level lowering that drives the enhanced incision of the Panj and its main tributaries.

Geochemical characterisations are implemented to get information about the composition of unknown samples but some elements occur in different oxidation states that can not be determined by established techniques without special efforts like sample dissolution or extra equipment. One example is sulphur with its most common species, sulphide and sulphate. Different approaches, based on WD-XRF routine measurements, provide simple alternatives for a quantitative speciation. A set of 100 synthetic samples has been prepared in different concentrations and were measured by a Panalytical Axios minerals spectrometer. The first approach is based on the shift of the Kα1,2 doublet. Sulphide peaks are located at 2309 eV, sulphates at 2310 eV and mixtures can be found on a linear regression of energy and sulphide amount. As opposed to sulphides, sulphates show sulphur Kβ’ satellite peaks. Another procedure is based on this difference because the intensity of S Kβ’ increases with increasing sulphate content. The amount of sulphide can be calculated by a linear regression based the quotient Kβ’/Kβ of the sulphur peak height or area. However, this method has two limitations: low sulphide concentrations (<10 g/kg sulphide in the sample) and interferences with lead (Pb Mβ peak). The WD-XRF based strategies provide simple and reliable methodologies for a quantitative speciation of sulphides and sulphates whereupon the matrix influence can be neglected. These approaches have been implemented in investigations of ore-containing samples from mining dumps in Saxony/Germany. These procedures can be applied to give previously not measurable data on solid samples containing different sulphur species.

Invited review talk on particle acceleration and PW laser development in Dresden

We demonstrate a system for picking of mid-infrared and terahertz (THz) radiation pulses from the free-electron laser (FEL) FELBE operating at a repetition rate of 13 MHz. Single pulses are reflected by a dense electron-hole plasma in a Ge slab that is photoexcited by amplified near-infrared (NIR) laser systems operating at repetition rates of 1 kHz and 100 kHz, respectively. The peak intensity of picked pulses is up to 400 times larger than the peak intensity of residual pulses. The required NIR fluence for picking pulses at wavelengths in the range from 5 μm to 30μm is discussed. In addition, we show that the reflectivity of the plasma decays on a time scale from 100 ps to 1 ns dependent on the wavelengths of the FEL and the NIR laser. The plasma switch enables experiments with the FEL that require high peak power but lower average power. Furthermore, the system is well suited to investigate processes with decay times in the μs to ms regime, i.e., much longer than the 77 ns long pulse repetition period of FELBE.

This paper reports on the importance of crystallographic cuts with a different orientation on the luminescent properties and structural changes of Al2O3 implanted with Er+ ions at 190 keV and with a fluence of 1.0 × 1016 cm−2. Post-implantation annealing at 1000 °C in oxygen atmosphere was also done. The chemical compositions and erbium concentration-depth profiles of implanted layers were studied by Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS) and compared to SRIM simulations. The same value of the maximum erbium concentration (up to 2 at.%) was observed at a depth of about 40 nm for all crystallographic cuts. The structural properties of the prepared layers were characterised by RBS/channelling. The relative amount of disordered atoms of 70–80% was observed in the prepared implanted layers and discussed for various cuts. It has been found that erbium is positioned randomly in the Al2O3 crystalline matrix, and no preferential positions appeared even after the annealing procedure. Erbium luminescence properties were measured in the wavelength range of 1440–1650 nm for all samples. As-implanted Al2O3 samples had a significant luminescence band at 1530 nm. The best luminescence was repeatedly observed in the 〈0 0 0 1〉 cut of Al2O3. The annealing procedure significantly improved the luminescent properties.

The rate of supernovae (SNe) in our local galactic neighborhood within a distance of ~100 parsec from Earth (1 parsec (pc)=3.26 light years) is estimated at 1 SN every 2-4 million years (Myr), based on the total SN-rate in the Milky Way (2.0±0.7 per century). Recent massive-star and SN activity in Earth’s vicinity may be evidenced by traces of radionuclides with half-lives t_1/2 ≤ 100 Myr, if trapped in interstellar dust grains that penetrate the Solar System (SS). One such radionuclide is ⁶⁰Fe (t_1/2=2.6 Myr) which is ejected in supernova explosions and winds from massive stars. Here we report that the ⁶⁰Fe signal observed previously in deep-sea crusts, is global, extended in time and of interstellar origin from multiple events. Deep-sea archives from all major oceans were analyzed for ⁶⁰Fe deposition via accretion of interstellar dust particles. Our results, based on ⁶⁰Fe atom-counting at state-of-the-art sensitivity, reveal ⁶⁰Fe interstellar influxes onto Earth 1.7–3.2 Myr and 6.5–8.7 Myr ago. The measured signal implies that a few percent of fresh ⁶⁰Fe was captured in dust and deposited on Earth. Our findings indicate multiple supernova and massive-star events during the last ~10 Myr at nearby distances ≤100 pc.

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Der Zelloberflächenrezeptor Claudin-4 (Cld-4) wird in verschiedenen Tumoren überexprimiert und stellt daher ein potentielles Target sowohl für die Diagnose als auch die Therapie von Tumoren epithelialen Ursprungs dar. Dies lässt die Entwicklung von Sonden, die das in vivo-Imaging dieses Proteins ermöglichen, attraktiv erscheinen. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit sollte untersucht werden, inwiefern sich das C-terminale Fragment der C-terminalen Domäne des Clostridium perfringens-Enterotoxins cCPE(290-319) für die PET-Bildgebung von Cld-4 eignet. Dieses Fragment besteht aus 30 Aminsäuren und weist die Sequenz SLDAGQYVLVMKANSSYSGNYPYSILFQKF auf, was den Positionen 290-319 im cCPE entspricht.
Die Synthese des cCPE(290-319) und davon abgeleiteter Analoga, insbesondere N-terminal fluorbenzoylierter und FITC-konjugierter Derivate sowie Varianten, in denen kritische Aminosäuren (Tyr 306 und Leu 315) ausgetauscht wurden, sollte durch Festphasenpeptidsynthese erfolgen. Unter verschiedenen erprobten Strategien erwies sich die sequentielle Festphasenpeptidsynthese unter Einsatz von drei Pseudoprolin-Dipeptiden am effizientesten, um cCPE(290-319) und dessen Derivate zugänglich zu machen. Die Affinität der erhaltenen Peptide zu einem artifiziellen Proteinkonstrukt bestehend aus beiden extrazellulären Domänen des Cld-4 wurde mit Hilfe der Oberflächen-Plasmonenresonanz (SPR) untersucht, wodurch ein K_d-Wert von 1.4 µM für das N-terminal 4-fluorbenzoylierte cCPE(290-319) ermittelt wurde. Die Markierung von CPE(290-319) mit Fluor-18 erfolgte an fester Phase mit Hilfe von N-Succinimidyl-4-[¹⁸F]fluorbenzoat ([¹⁸F]SFB) und 4-[¹⁸F]Fluorobenzoylchlorid. Dabei wurden die besten Resultate erzielt, wenn harzgebundenes cCPE(290-319) mit N-terminalem 6-Aminohexansäure-Spacer mit [¹⁸F]SFB zur Reaktion gebracht wurde. Die Inkubation des auf diese Weise erhaltenen Radiotracers mit Zellüberstand und Blutplasma ließ keine Anzeichen von Instabilität in diesen physiologischen Medien erkennen. Die Zellbindung von ¹⁸F-markiertem cCPE(290-319) wurde mit den Tumorzelllinien HT29, A375 und A431 untersucht. Dabei konnte die zeitabhängige Bindung des radiomarkierten Peptids an Cld-4-positive A375- und A431-Zellen beobachtet werden, die stärker war als im Fall der Cld-4-negativen HT29-Zellen. Dieses Ergebnis wird gestützt durch konfokale Fluoreszenzmikroskopie mit FITC-konjugiertem cCPE(290-319) an A431-Zellen. Das in vivo-Verhalten von 18F-markiertem cCPE(290-319) wurde durch dynamisches PET-Imaging und Radiometabolit-Analysen in NMRI nu/nu-Mäusen bzw. Wistar-Ratten evaluiert. Dabei hat sich gezeigt, dass ¹⁸F-markiertes cCPE(290-319) schnell metabolisiert wird und einer deutlichen Aufnahme in die Leber unterliegt.

An increased activity of tissue transglutaminase (TGase 2) in tumours correlates with enhanced invasive potential as well as resistance to chemo- and radiotherapy. Therefore, this enzyme represents an interesting target for the development of PET tracers for functional in vivo imaging of tumours.
One important prerequisite for the identification and characterisation of TGase 2-binding compounds are reliable assay methods to measure the enzymatic activity. For this, a continuous fluorimetric activity assay was established, which allows the detection of the TGase 2-activity through the measurement of an increase in fluorescence. In this context, six novel water-soluble fluorogenic acyl donors containing either 7-hydroxycoumarin or 7-hydroxy-4-methylcoumarin (HMC) as fluorogenic leaving groups were developed and extensively characterised concerning their enzymatic hydrolysis and aminolysis. Within these substrates, the dipeptide Z-Glu(HMC)-Gly-OH exhibits not only the most favourable substrate properties of all compounds in this study but also within the peptidic acyl donors described for TGase 2 so far. In addition to that, a fluorescence anisotropy-based assay method was established where the TGase 2-mediated incorporation of either fluorescein- or rhodamine-conjugated cadaverine into N,N-dimethylcasein is quantified.
For the development of PET tracers for molecular imaging of TGase 2, different approaches are pursued. One of those exploits the use of irreversible inhibitors for this enzyme. Among the TGase 2 inhibitors described in the literature, the recently reported N^α-acyl-N^ε-acryloyl-lysine-4-pyridylpiperazides seem to be most suitable for radiotracer development as these compounds exhibit strong inhibitory potential and selectivity towards TGase 2 as well as favourable pharmacokinetic properties. Hence, derivatives based on this class of compounds that allow the labelling with radionuclides such as fluorine-18 and iodine-124 were prepared and their inhibitory potential towards TGase 2 was evaluated by the two independent assay methods outlined above. The kinetic characterisation of the compounds revealed interesting structure-activity relationships. Particularly, the introduction of iodine into the C-terminal pyridyl moiety resulted in a significantly increased inhibitory potential towards TGase 2 compared to the lead structure. This was further illustrated by investigations on covalent docking of the lysine-derived inhibitors within the catalytic centre of TGase 2 which simultaneously will open strategies for the design of even more potent inhibitors.

The integration of III-V compound semiconductors into existing semiconductor technology is a milestone in future development of micro- and opto-electronics. However, one of the main problems is the presence of defects both inside the III-V semiconductor and at its interfaces. In the present case, III-V compound semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) were fabricated in Si based systems. For NC formation ion implantation and short-time flash lamp annealing (FLA) were used. After the implanted Si is molten by FLA, the NCs grow via liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) in a millisecond regime. Several binary and ternary III-V compounds have been produced using this approach. While binary compounds are fabricated stoichiometrically, ternary compounds can be achieved with varying compositions. Raman spectroscopy measurements confirmed the formation of III-V NCs within the particular, recrystallized matrices and Si doping. Microstructural properties were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction analysis. SEM and TEM images show crystalline, strained III-V nanocrystals in recrystallized Si layers.

The objective of this study was to test the influence of selected base metals, which act as oxide formers, on the metal-ceramic bond of dental veneer systems. Using ion implantation techniques, ions of Al, In and Cu were introduced into near-surface layers of a noble metal alloy containing no base metals. A noble metal alloy with base metals added for oxide formation was used as a reference. Both alloys were coated with a low-temperature fusing dental ceramic. Specimens without ion implantation or with Al2O3air abrasion were used as controls. The test procedures comprised the Schwickerath shear bond strength test (ISO 9693-1), profile height (surface roughness) measurements (ISO 4287; ISO 4288; ISO 25178), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging, auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). Ion implantation resulted in no increase in bond strength. The highest shear bond strengths were achieved after oxidation in air and air abrasion with Al2O3 (41.5 MPa and 47.8 MPa respectively). There was a positive correlation between shear bond strength and profile height. After air abrasion, a pronounced structuring of the surface occurred compared to ion implantation. The established concentration shifts in alloy and ceramic could be reproduced. However, their positive effects on shear bond strength were not confirmed. The mechanical bond appears to be of greater importance for metal-ceramic bonding.

A combination of n-type III-V compound semiconductors and p-type Ge for future CMOS device technology is a possible way to satisfy the demand for higher device performance. In this work, an alternative method to integrate III-V’s into Ge is achieved by using a combination of ion implantation and short-time flash lamp annealing. With this process InAs nanocrystals are formed within a Ge substrate for the first time. Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, Auger electron spectroscopy element mapping as well as transmission electron microscopy are performed to investigate these nanocrystal regarding size, shape and crystalline quality. Experiments show epitaxial growth of the III-V compound within the Ge matrix and a liquid phase epitaxy mechanism is used to describe the nanocrystal formation. Finally, the microstructural properties are compared for InAs nanocrystals in a Ge and a Si matrix.

The magnetoresistance of conductors usually has a quadratic dependence on magnetic field, however, examples exist of non-saturating linear behaviour in diverse materials. Assigning a specific microscopic mechanism to this unusual phenomenon is obscured by the co-occurrence and interplay of doping, mobility fluctuations and a polycrystalline structure. Bilayer graphene has virtually no doping fluctuations, yet provides a built-in mosaic tiling due to the dense network of partial dislocations. We present magnetotransport measurements of epitaxial bilayer graphene that exhibits a strong and reproducible linear magnetoresistance that persists to B = 62 T at and above room temperature, decorated by quantum interference effects at low temperatures. Partial dislocations thus have a profound impact on the transport properties in bilayer graphene, a system that is frequently assumed to be dislocation-free. It further provides a clear and tractable model system for studying the unusual properties of mosaic conductors.

Transglutaminases and polyamine transporters are promising targets for functional imaging of tumours. Therefore, our aim is to synthesise polyamine-based radiotracers that allow the in vivo imaging of the aforementioned targets by positron emission tomography (PET). Labelling with the radionuclide fluorine-18 can be accomplished via attaching a [¹⁸F]fluorobenzoyl group with the prosthetic labelling reagent N-succinimidyl-4-[¹⁸F]fluorobenzoate ([¹⁸F]SFB). To access the required non- radioactive analogues, a solid-phase synthesis was developed that enables selective fluorobenzoylation at distinct amino groups of various polyamines (e.g. cadaverine, spermidine, spermine) on the basis of a recently described synthetic concept for the selective functionalisation of polyamines. The established route can be directly applied to synthesise the ¹⁸F-labelled analogues.
The mono-fluorobenzoylated polyamines were obtained by solidphase synthesis of the corresponding oxopolyamines and subsequent reduction of the amide bond with BH3-THF. By applying Dde and Boc as orthogonal protecting groups and taking advantage of the selective reaction of 2-acetyldimedone with primary amino groups in the presence of secondary amines, the selective fluorobenzoylation (FBz) of different amino groups becomes possible.
Additionally, the selective mono-fluorobenzylation (FBn) of selected diamines by reaction with 4-fluorobenzaldehyde and subsequent reduction of the resulting imine using sodium triacetoxyborohydride was performed. Based on the established methodology, the following compounds among others were obtained in good yields: N-FBzcadaverine, N-FBn-cadaverine, N¹-FBz- spermidine, N⁴-FBz-spermidine, N⁸-FBz-spermidine and N¹-FBz-spermine. Furthermore, the naturally occurring diamine cadaverine was conjugated to different reporter groups such as biotin. The identity of the compounds was confirmed by NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. The kinetic parameters towards transglutaminase 2-catalysed acyl transfer were determined for selected compounds with an in-house fluorimetric assay using the fluorogenic acyl donor Cbz–Glu(HMC)–Gly–OH.