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41396 Publications

Modelling of focused ion beam induced increases in sample temperature: a case study of heat damage in biological samples

Wolff, A.; Klingner, N.; Thompson, W.; Zhou, Y.; Lin, J.; Peng, Y. Y.; Ramshaw, J. A. M.; Xiao, Y.

Ion beam induced heat damage in soft materials and biological samples is not yet well understood in Focused Ion Beam systems (FIBs). The work presented here discusses the physics behind the ion beam – sample interactions and the effects which lead to increases in sample temperature and potential heat damage. A model by which heat damage can be estimated and which allows parameters to be determined that reduce/prevent heat damage was derived from Fourier’s law of heat transfer and compared to finite element simulations, numerical modeling results and experiments. The results suggests that ion beam induced heat damage can be prevented/minimized by reducing the ion beam current (local dose rate), decreasing the beam overlap (reduced local ion dose) and by introducing a blur (increased surface cross-section area, reduced local dose) while sputtering, patterning or imaging soft material and non-resin-embedded biological samples using FIBs.

Keywords: Focused Ion Beam; Heat Damage; Biological Sample; SRIM; COMSOL; FTCS

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27455
Publ.-Id: 27455


Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry in the helium ion microscope

Klingner, N.; Heller, R.; Hlawacek, G.; Facsko, S.; von Borany, J.

A helium ion microscope, known for high resolution imaging and machining with helium or neon ions, has been equipped with a time-of-flight spectrometer for in-situ compositional analysis.
Here we report on its design, implementation and show first results of this powerful add-on.
Our design considerations were strongly based on detailed simulations of the ion collision cascade with a focus on the physically achievable resolution for the various detection limits.
Based on these simulations different secondary ion extraction systems and spectrometer types are considered and compared with respect to the demands and limitations of the microscope.
As a result the development and examination of a straight secondary ion extraction and a time-of-flight spectrometer is reported that allows the simultaneous measurement of all secondary ion masses.
First experimental results demonstrate an excellent mass resolution as well as high-resolution secondary ion imaging capabilities with sub-8 nm lateral resolution.
High resolution secondary electron images correlated with in-situ mass-separated sputtered ion distributions have a high potential to answer open questions in different fields of materials science.

Keywords: Helium Ion Microscope; Time-Of-Flight; SIMS

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Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27454
Publ.-Id: 27454


Reaction of uranium- and zirconium oxides under reducing and oxidizing atmospheres: X-ray absorption and X-ray diffraction studies

Uehara, A.; Akiyama, D.; Numako, C.; Terada, Y.; Nitta, K.; Ina, T.; Takeda-Homma, S.; Ikeda-Ohno, A.; Kirishima, A.; Sato, N.

Chemical and redox reaction between uranium (U) and zirconium (Zr) at high temperature under a reducing or oxidizing atmosphere were investigated to simulate fuel debris formed by Fukushima nuclear power plant accident. X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) at U LIII-edge and Zr K edge and powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) of the mixed UO2/ZrO2 materials treated at high temperature from 1473 to 1873 K under reducing or oxidizing atmosphere were performed. For UO2-ZrO2 samples from1473 to 1873 K under the oxidizing atmosphere (Ar + 2% O2, 1h), it was found that the compounds were primarily consisted of five species including U3O8, UO2, U2Zr5O15, monoclinic-ZrO2, and tetragonal-ZrO2, whose fractions were calculated by principal component analysis (PCA) on both the X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) collected at both U LIII edge and Zr K edge. Here, the formation of U2Zr5O15, a pentavalent uranium compound, was confirmed by the U LIII edge-XANES between the temperature range from 1473 to 1573 K. These results were also supported by powder-XRD analysis. Under the reducing atmosphere (Ar + 10% H2, 1h), UO2 remained at the whole temperature range without reacting with ZrO2, whereas monoclinic- and tetragonal ZrO2 were formed at 1573 K (60- and 40%, respectively). This study can pave the way for understanding the interaction between nuclear fuels and cladding materials in damaged reactors, enabling to simulate possible decontamination procedures.

Keywords: Nuclear fuel debris; Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plants; accidents; environmental science; mixed oxides; solid-state chemistry; X-ray absorption spectroscopy; powder X-ray diffraction

  • Lecture (Conference)
    NuMat2018: The Nuclear Materials Conference, 15.10.2018, Seattle, WA, USA

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27453
Publ.-Id: 27453


Ion Sources for Focused Ion Beam Applications

Bischoff, L.; Mazarov, P.; Pilz, W.; Gierak, J.

One of the most important elements of a Focused Ion Beam (FIB) system is the ion source which has to guarantee a stable, long life working in the needed application field with the required properties. Main points are the achievable focus of the spot, the ion current, the energy and also the ion species itself. At present nearly half of elements of the periodic table can be used in FIB equipment to modify or tune locally electrical, optical, mechanic or magnetic properties. Depending on the special task very different types of ion sources can be found. Among them the Liquid Metal Ion Sources (LMIS) mostly used for Ga and derived from that the Liquid Metal Alloy Ion Sources (LMAIS) [1] are most popular ones having a brightness of 106 A/cm² sr. The obtainable resolution is a few nm with ion currents of some pA. In a similar manner Ionic Liquid Ion Sources (ILIS) work using salts or certain compounds from which positive and negative mono- and polyatomic ions can be emitted [1,2]. Due to the limited ion current in such sources to lower than 100 nA and so applications like larger volume removing are restricted. ECR or RF plasma sources can fill the gap working with heavy Xe ions and currents up to 2 µA [3,4]. In the last decade a long known source was rediscovered – the Gas Field Ion Source (GFIS) and generate the initial point for the successful development of the Helium Ion Microscope (HIM) [5]. A final lateral spot size of about half nm opens new prospects in the field of ion microscopy and nano-engineering. Another modern and interesting approach is the magneto-optical trap ion source (MOTIS) successful demonstrated for Cr and Li ions [6].
All ion sources used in FIB systems will be compared, characterized, discussed and described with a typical application.

[1] L. Bischoff, P. Mazarov, L. Bruchhaus, and J. Gierak, Liquid Metal Alloy Ion Sources – An Alternative for Focused Ion Beam Technology, Appl. Phys. Rev. 3 (2016) 021101.
[2] A. N. Zorzos and P. Lozano, The use of ionic liquid ion sources in focused ion beam applications, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 26 (2008) 2097.
[3] A. Delobbe, O. Salord, T. Hrncir, A. David, P. Sudraud and F. Lopour, High Speed TEM Sample Preparation by Xe FIB, Microsc. Microanal. 20 (2014) 298.
[4] T.L. Burnetta, R. Kelley, B. Winiarski, L. Contreras, M. Daly, A. Gholinia, M.G. Burke, and P.J. Withers, Large volume serial section tomography by Xe Plasma FIB dual beam Microscopy, Ultramicroscopy 161 (2016) 119.
[5] G. Hlawacek, V. Veligura, R. van Gastel, and B. Poelsema, Helium ion microscopy, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 32 (2014) 020801.
[6] B. Knuffman, A. V. Steele, J. Orloff, M. Maazouz, and J. J. McClelland, A Focused Ion Beam Source Based On Laser-Cooled Atoms, AIP Conference Proceedings 1395 (2011) 85.

Keywords: Focused Ion Beam; Plasma Ion Sources; LMAIS; MOTIS

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  • Lecture (Conference)
    MAT Science Week, 24.-27.04.2018, Darmstadt, Germany
  • Lecture (Conference)
    Helium and emerging Focused Ion Beams HeFIB2018, 11.-13.06.2018, Dresden, Germany

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27452
Publ.-Id: 27452


Comparison of mechanical properties and composition of magnetron sputter and plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition aluminum nitride films

Sippola, P.; Pyymaki Perros, A.; Ylivaara, O. M. E.; Ronkainen, H.; Julin, J.; Liu, X.; Sajavaara, T.; Etula, J.; Lipsanen, H.; Puurunen, R. L.

Comparative study of mechanical properties and elemental and structural composition was made for aluminum nitride thin films deposited with reactive magnetron sputtering and plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD). The sputtered films were deposited on Si (100), Mo (110) and Al (111) oriented substrates to study the effect of substrate texture to the film properties. For the PEALD trimethylaluminum-ammonia (TMA/NH3) films, the effects of process parameters such as temperature, bias voltage, and plasma gas (NH3 vs. N2/H2) on the AlN properties were studied. All the AlN films had a nominal thickness of 100 nm. Time-of-flight elastic recoil detection analysis (ToF-ERDA) showed the sputtered films to have lower impurity concentration with an Al/N ratio of 0.95, while the Al/N ratio for the PEALD films was 0.81-0.90. The mass densities were ~3.10 g/cm3 and ~2.70 g/cm3 for sputtered and PEALD AlN, respectively. Only the sputtered films were crystalline, as determined by x-ray diffraction (XRD). Nanoindentation experiments showed the elastic modulus and hardness to be 250 GPa and 22 GPa, respectively, for sputtered AlN on (110) substrate, whereas with PEALD AlN, values of 180 GPa and 19 GPa, respectively, were obtained. The sputtered films were under tensile residual stress (61 to 421 MPa) whereas PEALD films had a residual stress ranging from tensile to compressive (846 to -47 MPa) and high plasma bias resulted in compressive films. The adhesion of both films was good on Si, although sputtered films showed more inconsistent critical load behaviour. Also, the substrate underneath the sputtered AlN did not withstand as high wear forces as with the PEALD AlN. The coefficient of friction was determined to be ~0.2 for both AlN types and their wear characteristics were almost identical.

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Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27451
Publ.-Id: 27451


Kopplung von Energiesystem und Rohstoffsystem

van den Boogaart, K. G.

Energiesystem und Rohstoffsystem sind eng verknüpft. Unser Beitrag in ES2050 beschäftigt sich mit dieser Verknüpfung. Zur Erzeugung, "Ubertragung und Speicherung werden Stoffliche Resourcen benötigt. Der Bedarf stofflicher Resourcen ist bei der Verwendung erneuerbare Energien typischerweise höher als bei fossilen Energieträgern. Stoffliche Resourcen sind aber nur teilweise erneuerbar. Ihre Bereistellung aus Primärem Quellen oder Recycling erfordert selbst Energie und weitere Rohstoffe. Daraus ergibt sich ein Netzwerk aus gegenseitigen Anforderungen, dessen Eigenschaften wir untersuchen. Da viele Quellen begrenzt sind, ändert sich dabei je nach benötigter Menge der indirekte Bedarf an weiteren Quellen.

Die wichtigsten Erkenntnisse bisher sind:

1) Für mache Arten erneuerbarer Energien würden die heute bekannten Rohstoffquellen nicht ausreichen. Auch aus Rohstoffsicht ist daher immer ein Energiemix erforderlich.

2) Betrachtet man Energiesystem und Rohstoffsystem gemeinsam können Rückkopplungen auftreten, die den Aufwand für bottleneck-Rohstoffe explodieren lassen.

3) Erneuerbare Energien sind aus Rohstoff-Sicht noch unbedingt erneuerbar. Sie verbrauchen Rohstoffe. Ein energetisch ökonomisches Recycling ist nicht immer möglich.

4) Ein kostenoptimiertes System neigt zu hohen Rohstoffverbräuchen.

5) Verbote im Systeme verringern die Effizienz.

  • Lecture (Conference)
    ES2050 Statustagung, 08.-09.05.2018, Frankfurt(Main), Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27450
Publ.-Id: 27450


Metallic twin boundaries boost the hydrogen evolution reaction on the basal plane of molybdenum selenotellurides

Kosmala, T.; Diaz, H. C.; Komsa, H.-P.; Ma, Y.; Krasheninnikov, A. V.; Batzill, M.; Agnoli, S.

The hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is a fundamental process that impacts several important clean energy technologies. Great efforts have been taken to identify alternative materials that could replace Pt for this reaction or that may present additional functional properties such as optical activity and advanced electronic properties. Herein, a comparative study of the HER activity for ultrathin films of MoTe2, MoSe2, and their solid solutions on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite is reported. Combining advanced characterization techniques and density functional theory calculations with electrochemical measurements, it is shown that the chemical activity of the scarcely reactive 2H phases can be boosted by the presence of metallic twin boundaries. These defects, which are thermodynamically stable and naturally present in Mo-enriched MoTe2 and MoSe2, endow the basal plane of the 2H phase with a high chemical activity, which is comparable to the metastable 1T polymorph.

Keywords: 2D materials; hydrogen evolution reaction; first-principles calculations

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Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27449
Publ.-Id: 27449


Post-synthesis modifications of two-dimensional MoSe2 or MoTe2 by incorporation of excess metal atoms into the crystal structure

Coelho, P. M.; Komsa, H.-P.; Diaz, H. C.; Ma, Y.; Krasheninnikov, A. V.; Batzill, M.

Phase engineering has extensively been used to achieve metallization of two-dimensional (2D) semiconducting materials, as it should boost their catalytic properties or improve electrical contacts. In contrast, here we demonstrate compositional phase change by incorporation of excess metals into the crystal structure. We demonstrate post-synthesis restructuring of the semiconducting MoTe2 or MoSe2 host material by unexpected easy incorporation of excess Mo into their crystal planes, which causes local metallization. The amount of excess Mo can reach values as high as 10% in MoTe2 thus creating a significantly altered material compared to its parent structure. The incorporation mechanism is explained by density functional theory in terms of the energy difference of Mo atoms incorporated in the line phases as compared to Mo ad-clusters. Angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy reveals that the incorporated excess Mo induces band gap states up to the Fermi level causing its pinning at these electronic states. The incorporation of excess transition metals in MoTe2 and MoSe2 is not limited to molybdenum, but other transition metals can also diffuse into the lattice, as demonstrated experimentally by Ti deposition. The mechanism of incorporation of transition metals in MoSe2 and MoTe2 is revealed, which should help to address the challenges in synthesizing defect-free single layer materials by, for example, molecular beam epitaxy. The easy incorporation of metal atoms into the crystal also indicates that the previously assumed picture of a sharp metal/2D- material interface may not be correct, and at least for MoSe2 and MoTe2, in-diffusion of metals from metal-contacts into the 2D material has to be considered. Most importantly though, the process of incorporation of transition metals with high concentrations into pristine 2D transition-metal dichalcogenides enables a pathway for their post-synthesis modifications and adding functionalities.

Keywords: 2D materials; defects; first-principles simulaitons

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Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27448
Publ.-Id: 27448


Supported Two-Dimensional Materials under Ion Irradiation: the Substrate Governs Defect Production

Kretschmer, S.; Maslov, M.; Ghaderzadeh, S.; Ghorbani-Asl, M.; Hlawacek, G.; Krasheninnikov, A. V.

Focused ion beams perfectly suit for patterning two-dimensional (2D) materials, but the optimization of irradiation parameters requires full microscopic understanding of defect production mechanisms. Contrary to free-standing 2D systems, the details of damage creation in supported 2D materials are not fully understood, while the majority of experiments have been carried out for 2D targets deposited on substrates. Here we suggest a universal and computationally efficient scheme to model the irradiation of supported 2D materials, which combines analytical potential molecular dynamics with Monte Carlo (MC) simulations, which makes it possible to assess independently the contributions to the damage from backscattered ions and atoms sputtered from the substrate. Using the scheme, we study defect production in graphene and MoS₂ sheets, which are the two most important and wide-spread 2D materials, deposited on a SiO₂ substrate. For helium and neon ions with a wide range of initial ion energies including those used in commercial helium ion microscope (HIM), we demonstrate that depending on ion energy and mass, defect production in 2D systems can be dominated by backscattered ions and sputtered substrate atoms rather than by the direct ion impacts, and that the amount of damage in 2D materials heavily depends on whether a substrate is present or not. We also study the factors which limit the spatial resolution of the patterning process. Our results, which agree well with the available experimental data, provide not only insights into defect production, but also quantitative information, which can be used for the minimization of damage during imaging in HIM or optimization of the patterning process.

Keywords: Ion Irradiation; Helium Ion Microscope; Substrate; Defect Production

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Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27447
Publ.-Id: 27447


Redirection of switchable UniCAR T cells against radioresistant cancer cells

Feldmann, A.; Arndt, C.; Bergmann, R.; Berndt, N.; Jureczek, J.; Albert, S.; Lindner, D.; Koristka, S.; Steinbach, J.; Ehninger, G.; Krause, M.; Kurth, I.; Dubrovska, A.; Bachmann, M.

Introduction: Radiation is a common therapy for solid tumors. Unfortunately there is a high risk for the outgrowth of radioresistant tumor cells against which only limited treatment options exist. We challenged the idea whether or not chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) engineered T lymphocytes could be used as an adjuvant immunotherapy in combination with radiotherapy. Recently, we have established switchable universal CARs (UniCARs) that bind to a short peptide epitope (E5B9) which does not exist on the surface of living cells. UniCAR T cells are exclusively redirected to tumor cells in the presence of a target module (TM) that exhibits the E5B9 epitope and binds to a tumor associated antigen (TAA) on the tumor cell surface.
Materials and Methods: We used different radioresistant sublines of the head and neck cancer cell line Cal33. Gene expression data for certain TAAs were confirmed by flow cytometry. TMs against potential targets were created from the variable domains of monoclonal antibodies, cloned in lentiviral vectors and purified from supernatants of permanently TM producing 3T3 cells. UniCAR T cells were generated by lentiviral transduction.
Results: Radioresistant Cal33 cell lines expressed PSCA, EGFR and CD98. UniCAR TMs were created against these TAAs. Armed with these TMs UniCAR T cells efficiently killed radioresistant Cal33 cells in vitro and in vivo.
Conclusions: Radioresistant tumor cells can efficiently be killed by redirecting UniCAR T cells against PSCA, CD98 and EGFR and thus resistance to radiotherapy can be overcome by immunotherapy based on the UniCAR technology to these targets.

Keywords: Antibodies; Engineering of antibodies and nanobodies; Immunotherapy

  • Poster
    5th European Congress of Immunology, 02.-05.09.2018, Amsterdam, Niederlande

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27446
Publ.-Id: 27446


Fundamental Principles of Spectral Methods related to Discrete Data

Seilmayer, M.; Ratajczak, M.

Until the mid 20th century, the groundbreaking works of Claude Shannon regarding infor- mation theory laid the foundation for the vast field of digital signal processing and spectral data analysis, and thereby enabled almost all modern daily life information technologies we are now used to. Digital telecommunication, audio and video compression are just some ex- amples of advanced signal processing which are not possible without a theory about discrete data and its spectral representation. Signal processing starts with the process of sampling by means of a mathematical model, which results in a mapping between the continuous physical measure – like temperature, voltage fluctuations of a microphone or a camera picture – and its time and value discrete representation. According to that, information about the signal can be gained by filtering, data manipulation, pattern extraction and related procedures. Because of the vast variety of applications, many different spectral methods were developed which utilize different mathematical transforms, for example the Fourier transform or the Hilbert transform. Utilizing the appropriate transform for a problem also opens up shortcuts in calculations, or makes signal features visible by decomposing the signal into the associated spectral domain.

Keywords: Fourier Transform; Hilbert Transform; Spectral Analysis; Discrete Data; R

  • Open Access Logo Book chapter
    Prof. Sergey Y. Yurish: Advances in Measurements and Instrumentation: Reviews' Book Series, Vol. 1, Barcelona: International Frequency Sensor Association (IFSA), 2018, 978-84-09-07321-4, 53-120

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27445
Publ.-Id: 27445


Influence of Histidine-tag on immunotherapeutic and diagnostic properties of anti-PSCA target modules

Jureczek, J.; Bergmann, R.; Berndt, N.; Albert, S.; Koristka, S.; Arndt, C.; Steinbach, J.; Bachmann, M.; Feldmann, A.

Antibodies (Abs) and their recombinant derivatives play an increasing role in tumor therapy and diagnostic imaging. The theranostic target modules (TMs) recently developed by us can be used for individualized and precise cancer immunotherapy and at the same time as radiotracers for tumor imaging. The TMs consist of an antigen binding moiety that binds to the prostate stem cell antigen (PSCA) on the tumor cell surface and present the peptide epitope E5B9. Via E5B9 the TMs can retarget human T cells that are genetically modified with universal anti-E5B9 chimeric antigen receptors (UniCARs) towards the tumor cells. The cross-linkage of UniCAR T cells and tumor cells via the TM results in T cell activation and tumor cell killing. This immunotherapeutic approach was shown as an inducible CAR platform technology that can be used for the treatment of leukemic as well as solid cancers. This technic has an intrinsic emergency brake: The short half-life of the TMs in vivo allows a fast switch off of the UniCAR system. In detail, UniCAR T cells per se are inactive because their UniCARs do not recognize an antigen on the cell surface. Only in the presence of tumor-bound TMs UniCAR T cells can be redirected to tumor cells and turned on. But they are switched off when the application of TMs is stopped and their concentration is too low to activate UniCAR T cells what also becomes particularly relevant in case of side effects occur in the patients. TMs cannot only be used as a therapeutic drug but also as a diagnostic tool for tumor imaging. For this purpose TMs can be modified with a bifunctional chelator. After conjugation they can be labeled with radiometals like 64Cu2+ or 68Ga3+ and used as an imaging tracer for PET analysis.
Usually our TMs contain a tag of six histidine residues (His6-tag) at the C-terminus. The His6-tag is used for convenient purification by immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography and detection of the TMs. However the His6-tag may affect PK and biodistribution of the TMs. In particular with respect to clinical application of the TMs the His6-tag may induce immunologic reactions. Furthermore the purification of His6-tagged TMs by immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography might cause metal ions in the TMs which have influence on their radiolabeling and can be critical for patients’ health. To address these concerns we have generated an anti-PSCA TM without His6-tag (PSCA TM) and compared its theranostic properties to the corresponding TM with the His6-tag (PSCA-His TM). The PSCA TMs were successfully prepared by digestion with TEV protease recognizing a strict seven amino acid cleavage recognition site which was introduced upstream from the His6-tag in the PSCA-TEV-His TM construct. Both TMs with or without His6-tag showed similar high binding affinities to PSCA on PC3-PSCA prostate cancer cells whereas the Kd values were in the nM range. As shown by chromium release assays both target modules were able to redirect UniCAR T cells to efficiently kill PSCA-presenting tumor cells in a strictly target-dependent and target-specific manner. In vitro tumor cell killing of PSCA TM was less efficient than PSCA-His TM but still in pM range. Most importantly in NMRI-FOX1nu/nu mice the PSCA TM redirected UniCAR T cells to eliminate luciferase/PSCA-double positive tumor cells as efficient as the PSCA-His TM. PET analysis of the 64Cu-labeled TMs in these mice showed higher accumulation of the PSCA TM in the PSCA-positive tumors and less nonspecific binding in normal tissues (like blood and heart) after 2 h. At the same time the blood clearance of PSCA TM was distinctly faster than of the PSCA-His TM resulting in better contrast of the tumor for the PSCA TM in the PET images after 2 h. On the other hand, the PSCA-His TMs was slower cleared from the blood resulting in a higher PSCA-His TM concentration in the tumor later on after one day.
To summarize we have established two PSCA TMs one with and the other without a C-terminal His6-tag which differ in their theranostic properties. Both TMs efficiently redirect UniCAR T cells to kill tumor cells. The PSCA TMs have a higher tumor accumulation and lower nonspecific binding in the normal tissues and blood resulting in a very short half-life that may allow an even faster emergency shut down of the UniCAR system if necessary and excellent short time imaging. The PSCA-His TMs are characterized by a larger nonspecific binding, slower blood-clearance and are apparently better suited for long-term imaging. Both TMs are applicable for the UniCAR based immunotherapy and imaging, complement each other and so they are suitable for the individualized, precise human theranostic.

Keywords: Radioimmunology; UniCAR; Tumor Immunotherapy

  • Poster
    Workshop und Symposium Tumor Immunology meets Oncology XIV, 24.05.2018, Halle, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27444
Publ.-Id: 27444


The {Np38} clusters: The missing link in the largest poly-oxo cluster series of tetravalent actinides

Martin, N. P.; Volkringer, C.; Roussel, P.; März, J.; Hennig, C.; Loiseau, T.; Ikeda-Ohno, A.

Two poly-oxo cluster complexes of tetravalent neptunium (Np(IV)), Np38O56Cl18(bz)24(THF)8·nTHF and Np38O56Cl42(ipa)20·mipa (bz = benzoate, THF = tetrahydrofuran, and ipa = isopropanol) were obtained via solvothermal synthesis and structurally characterised by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The {Np38} clusters are comparable to the analogous {U38} and {Pu38} motifs, filling the gap in this largest poly-oxo cluster series of tetravalent actinides.

Keywords: actinides; neptunium; clusters; polymers; structure; X-ray diffraction; hydrolysis; solid state; coordination

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27443
Publ.-Id: 27443


Synthesis and structural characterization of the first neptunium based metal-organic frameworks incorporating {Np6O8} hexanuclear cluster

Martin, N. P.; März, J.; Feuchter, H.; Duval, S.; Roussel, P.; Henry, N.; Petricek, V.; Ikeda-Ohno, A.; Loiseau, T.; Volkringer, C.

Successful synthesis of the first transuranium Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) involving neptunium(IV) (Np(IV) is reported. These compounds were obtained from the controlled hydrolysis of Np(IV) in the presence of dicarboxylate ligands. The final structures contain the [Np6O4(OH)4(H2O)6]12+ unit, which were never cristallized before with tetravalent neptunium, associated with ditopic ligands.

Keywords: actinides; neptunium; metal-organic frameworks; carboxylate; coordination chemistry; structure; X-ray diffraction

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27442
Publ.-Id: 27442


Influence of substitutional atoms on the diffusion of oxygen in dilute iron alloys

Wang, X.; Posselt, M.; Faßbender, J.

A multiscale approach including Density Functional Theory (DFT) and Atomistic Kinetic Monte Carlo (AKMC) simulations is applied to investigate the diffusion of interstitial oxygen atoms in bcc Fe under the influence of substitutional foreign atoms (Al, Si, P, S, Ti, Cr, Mn, Ni, Y, Mo, W). The substitutional atoms can be assumed to be immobile since their diffusion coefficient is much smaller than that of oxygen. At first jumps of oxygen in pure bcc Fe, between first-, second-, and third-neighbor octahedral interstitial sites are investigated. It is found that the first-neighbor jump is most relevant, with the tetrahedral site as the saddle point. The second-neighbor jump consists of two consecutive first-neighbor jumps. The barrier for a direct third-neighbor jump is too high to be significant for the diffusion process. In the presence of substitutional atoms the most important migration paths are first-neighbor jumps between modified octahedral sites with modified tetrahedral sites as saddle points. Calculations show that Si, P, Ni, Mo and W cause some modifications of the migration barriers of oxygen and their interaction with O is mainly repulsive. Al, Cr and Mn have a significant influence on the barriers and they exhibit strong attractive interactions with O. The most important modification of the barriers is found for S, Ti, and Y where deep attractive states exist. Based on the migration energies obtained by DFT, AKMC simulations on a rigid lattice are employed to determine the diffusion coefficient of oxygen in a dilute iron alloy containing the different substitutional atoms. It is found that Si, P, Ni, Mo, and W have almost no influence on the diffusivity of O, i.e. it is nearly identical to that in pure bcc Fe. The presence of Al, Cr, Mn, S, Ti, and Y causes a significant reduction of the mobility of oxygen. In these cases the temperature dependence of the oxygen diffusion coefficient shows considerable deviations from an Arrhenius law and other peculiarities. These phenomena are discussed in detail by considering the occupation time for the different states and the frequency of jumps between the states. The present findings on the strong dependence on the kind of substitutional atoms change the picture of oxgygen diffusion in dilute iron alloys substantially.

Keywords: First-principle calculations; Atomistic kinetic Monte Carlo simulations; Diffusion; Oxygen; Influence of substitutional solutes; bcc-Fe

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27441
Publ.-Id: 27441


Protecting Pulsed High-Power Lasers with Real-Time Object Detection

Kelling, J.; Gebhardt, R.; Helbig, U.; Bock, S.; Schramm, U.; Juckeland, G.

Learn how to train and employ state-of-the-art object localization in a real-time safety application. In Petawatt laser systems, firing at 10Hz, suddenly appearing scatterers can damage components. Damage(-spreading) can be avoided by suspending operation immediately on occurrence of such an event.

We present our approach for the automatic detection of critical failure states from intensity profiles of the laser beam. In order to minimize the rate of false alarms, which would reduce productivity or even render our system useless, we refrain from general anomaly detection and go for detecting known error patterns. In this talk we present how we fitted the You Look Only Once (YOLO) approach, which is suited to low-latency object detection, to our problem and how we adapted the required multi-step training protocol to the available experimental data.

  1. extended abstract:
High-power lasers are operated at our research center for investigations of exotic states of matter and medical applications, among others. This project to improve the automatic shutdown/interlock system of two lasers (one in operation, one currently under construction) has the goal of reducing the probability of, potentially expensive, damage-spreading scenarios, while at the same time avoiding false alarms. In order to achieve high precision, we train for high recall only for known indicators, instead of using anomaly detection.
After we presented a proof-of-concept for this type of failure-state-detection at GTC 2018, where the main challenge was in dealing with a far too small dataset, we are now working on a pure deep-learning approach driven by systematic experimental data. In the new design, intended for production use, the classification takes place on differences between a running average of non-signaling images and the current shot. This is required, because no images can be obtained which can be classified as "good" without context. In order to achieve fast object-detection, to highlight potential problems for the operator, the you look only once (YOLO) approach[1], which we modify by removing the final layers for bounding-box prediction and train the network to directly produce an expressive feature map (lazy YOLO).
From this talk, the audience can learn how we adapted the well-known YOLO approach to our real-world application, from the employed network to the multi-step training protocol. Another topic is the design for short response times, to which end we employ Caffe, OpenCV on GPU and use C++ as main programming language instead of python.

Keywords: Image Classification; Caffe; automatic Laser-safety shutdown; Object Detection

  • Lecture (Conference)
    GTC Europe, 09.-11.10.2018, München, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27440
Publ.-Id: 27440


Effect of Strong Load Variations on Gain and Timing of CeBr3 Scintillation Detectors Used for Range Monitoring in Proton Radiotherapy

Pausch, G.; Mueller, C.; Berthold, J.; Enghardt, W.; Kuechler, M.; Roemer, K.; Stein, J.; Straessner, A.; Wagner, A.; Werner, T.; Wolf, A.; Koegler, T.

CeBr3 scintillation detectors with light readout by photomultiplier tubes (PMT) have been used for prompt-gamma measurements in proton radiotherapy aiming at treatment verification by Prompt Gamma Timing (PGT) or Prompt Gamma Spectroscopy (PGS). Such treatments are usually structured in distinct beam spots grouped in several mono-energy layers, separated by breaks of few-seconds duration for beam energy switching. This causes a multitude of extreme load steps during delivery of a single treatment field. The paper presents preliminary results of two experiments exploring effects of such load steps on gain and timing of PGT detection units as developed for use in clinical treatments. Multiple units, consisting of scintillation detector (2”×1…2” CeBr3 crystal coupled to Hamamatsu R13089 or R13089-100 photomultiplier) and a plugged-on high-throughput digital spectrometer (U100 by Target Systemelektronik) that also provides well stabilized dynode voltages for the PMT, were exposed to prompt gamma radiation produced by 225 MeV protons in a plexiglass (PMMA) layer, or to bremsstrahlung produced by 13 MeV electrons. Beam shots of 3-5 s duration and varied intensity provoked load steps from background up to the Mcps region and back, and allowed analyzing the immediate and the retarded response of PMT gain and timing. Indeed we observed a noticeable change of the PMT transit time with the detector load, indicating that space charge effects are involved. The scaling of gain turns with the mean anode current supports this hypothesis. As long as the mean anode current is in a ‘reasonable’ operating range, gain and timing drifts of given detectors are well correlated, at least in the stationary case. The observed load-induced timing shifts are as large as 100 ps and would seriously disturb PGT measurements in a treatment, but could eventually be corrected for by tracking the PMT gain. In treatments, this could be done by tracking the ubiquitous 511 keV annihilation peak.

Keywords: Scintillation detector; gamma spectroscopy; photomultiplier; load effect; count rate; gain; timing; stabilization; particle therapy; proton therapy; treatment verification; range verification; prompt gamma

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  • Lecture (Conference)
    2018 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference, 10.-14.11.2018, Sydney, Australia

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27439
Publ.-Id: 27439


Unexpected field-induced dynamics in magnetostrictive microstructured elements under isotropic strain

Finizio, S.; Wintz, S.; Gliga, S.; Kirk, E.; Suszka, A. K.; Wohlhüter, P.; Zeissler, K.; Raabe, J.

We investigated the influence of an isotropic strain on the magnetization dynamics of microstructured magnetostrictive Co40Fe40B20 (CoFeB) elements with time-resolved scanning transmission x-ray microscopy. We observed that the application of isotropic strain leads to changes in the behavior of the microstructured magnetostrictive elements that cannot be fully explained by the volume magnetostriction term, requiring an alternative explanation to the current models used for the interpretation of the influence of mechanical strain on the dynamical processes of magnetostrictive materials.

Keywords: magnetostriction; magnetization dynamics; magnetoelastics

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Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27437
Publ.-Id: 27437


Flow Measurements in a Liquid Metal Model for Continuous Casting of Steel

Schurmann, D.; Willers, B.; Eckert, S.; Hackl, G.; Nitzl, G.

Poster for the Graduate Student Poster Contest of the AISTech 2018 Conference in Philadelphia, USA.

Related publications

  • Poster
    AISTech 2018, 07.-10.05.2018, Philadelphia, USA

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27436
Publ.-Id: 27436


Origin and Manipulation of Stable Vortex Ground States in Permalloy Nanotubes

Zimmermann, M.; Gerhard-Meier, T. N.; Dirnberger, F.; Kákay, A.; Decker, M.; Wintz, S.; Finizio, S.; Josten, E.; Raabe, J.; Kronseder, M.; Bougeard, D.; Lindner, J.; Back, C. H.

We present a detailed study on the static magnetic properties of individual permalloy nanotubes (NTs) with hexagonal cross-sections. Anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) measurements and scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) are used to investigate their magnetic ground states and its stability. We find that the magnetization in zero applied magnetic field is in a very stable vortex state. Its origin is attributed to a strong growth-induced anisotropy with easy axis perpendicular to the long axis of the tubes. AMR measurements of individual NTs in combination with micromagnetic simulations allow the determination of the magnitude of the growth-induced anisotropy for different types of NT coatings. We show that the strength of the anisotropy can be controlled by introducing a buffer layer underneath the magnetic layer. The magnetic ground states depend on the external magnetic field history and are directly imaged using STXM. Stable vortex domains can be introduced by external magnetic fields and can be erased by radio-frequency magnetic fields applied at the center of the tubes via a strip line antenna.

Keywords: Nanotube; anisotropic magnetoresistance; permalloy; vortex; ground state

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Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27435
Publ.-Id: 27435


Electrical Induced Annealing technique for neutron radiation damage on SiPMs

Cordelli, M.; Diociaiuti, E.; Donghia, R.; Ferrari, A.; Miscetti, S.; Muller, S.; Pezzullo, G.; Sarra, I.

The use of Silicon Photo-Multipliers (SiPMs) has become popular in the design of High Energy Physics experimental apparatus with a growing interest for their application in detector area where a significant amount of non-ionising dose is delivered. For these devices, the main effect caused by the neutron flux is a linear increase of the leakage current. In this paper, we present a technique that provides a partial recovery of the neutron damage on SiPMs by means of an Electrical Induced Annealing. Tests were performed on a sample of three SiPM arrays (2 × 3) of 6 mm^2 cells with 50 {\mu}m pixel sizes: two from Hamamatsu and one from SensL. These SiPMs were irradiated up to an integrated neutron flux up to 8 × 10^11 n_{1MeV−eq}/cm2. Our techniques allowed to reduced the leakage current of a factor ranging between 15-20 depending on the overbias used and the SiPM vendor.

Keywords: SiPM; radiation damage; induced recovery

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Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27434
Publ.-Id: 27434


From mono- to bivalent: improving theranostic properties of target modules for redirection of UniCAR T cells against EGFR-expressing tumor cells in vitro and in vivo

Albert, S.; Arndt, C.; Koristka, S.; Berndt, N.; Bergmann, R.; Feldmann, A.; Schmitz, M.; Pietzsch, J.; Steinbach, J.; Bachmann, M.

CAR-modified T cells show impressive results in clinical trials. However, cytokine release syndrome and “on-target, off-tumor” reactions represent most concerning side effects. To improve the safety of CAR-T cell therapy, we established a switchable CAR platform termed UniCAR system consisting of two components: UniCAR-modified T cells and tumor-specific target modules (TM). For treatment of EGFR+ epithelial tumors, we recently described a monovalent nanobody-based α-EGFR TM, either expressed in bacteria or eukaryotic cells. In spite of the identical primary sequence the eukaryotic showed a reduced killing capability and affinity. Here we describe a novel bivalent α-EGFR-EGFR TM. As expected, the avidity of the bivalent TM is higher than that of its monovalent counterpart. Binding of neither the monovalent α-EGFR TM nor the bivalent α-EGFR-EGFR TM to EGFR effected the EGF-mediated signaling. While the monovalent α-EGFR TM could only mediate the killing of tumor cells expressing high levels of EGFR, the bivalent α-EGFR-EGFR TM could redirect UniCAR T cells to tumor cells expressing low levels of EGFR. According to PET experiments in vivo, the increased avidity of the bivalent α-EGFR-EGFR TM improves the enrichment at the tumor site and its use for PET imaging.

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27433
Publ.-Id: 27433


Functional thiols as repair and doping agents of defective MoS2 monolayers

Förster, A.; Gemming, S.; Seifert, G.

Recent experimental and theoretical studies indicate that thiols (R-SH) can be used to repair sulfur vacancy defects in MoS2 monolayers (MLs). This density functional theory (DFT) study investigates how the thiol repair mechanism process can be used to dope MoS2 MLs. Fluorinated thiols as well as amine-containing ones are used to p- and n-dope the MoS2 ML, respectively. It is shown that functional groups are only physisorbed on the repaired MoSS2 surface. This explains the reversible doping with fluorinated thiols.

Keywords: 2D materials; desnsity functional theory; DFT; defects; thiols; repair; doping; tuning

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Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27430
Publ.-Id: 27430


Absolute Equation-of-State Measurement for Polystyrene from 25 - 60 Mbar Using a Spherically Converging Shock Wave

Döppner, T.; Swift, D. C.; Kritcher, A. L.; Bachmann, B.; Collins, G. W.; Chapman, D. A.; Hawreliak, J.; Kraus, D.; Nilsen, J.; Rothman, S.; Benedict, L. X.; Dewald, E.; Fratanduono, D. E.; Gaffney, J. A.; Glenzer, S. H.; Hamel, S.; Landen, O. L.; Lee, H. J.; Lepape, S.; Ma, T.; Macdonald, M. J.; Macphee, A.; Milathianaki, D.; Millot, M.; Neumayer, P.; Sterne, P. A.; Tommasini, R.; Falcone, R. W.

We have developed an experimental platform for the National Ignition Facility (NIF) that uses spherically converging shock waves for absolute equation of state (EOS) measurements along the principal Hugoniot. In this Letter we present radiographic compression measurements for polystyrene that were taken at shock pressures reaching 60 Mbar (6 TPa). This significantly exceeds previously published results obtained on the Nova laser [Cauble et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 1248 (1998)] at strongly improved precision, allowing to discriminate between different EOS models. We find excellent agreement with Kohn-Sham Density Functional Theory based molecular dynamics simulations.

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Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27429
Publ.-Id: 27429


Application of the Nirta® Solid irradiation system at the cyclotron Cyclone 18/9® at the HZDR in Leipzig

Franke, K.; Mansel, A.

The cyclotron Cyclone 18/9® (IBA RadioPharma Solutions) at the HZDR in Leipzig serves different research prurposes within the fields of neuroradiopharamceutical research and resource ecology. The latter is utilizing mainly solid targets with two installed Nirta® Solid irradiation systems (IBA RadioPharma Solutions). The wide variety of research projects implies a broad spectrum of required non-conventional radionuclides (Ti-45, V-48, Cr-51, Co-56, Cu-64, Sr-85, Y-86, Y-88, Zr-89, Ag-105, La-135, Ce-139, Au-194). Here we give an overview about the used target designs, irradiation parameters and target processing.
One Nirta® Solid irradiation system (SIS1) is mounted at a 2 m beam transfer line at port 3. Another irradiation system (SIS2) is directly attached to yoke of the cyclotron via a short tube at port 4. In both cases the proton energy is adjusted by the vacuum window and the entrance window of the target. SIS2 is the standard setup. It can hold coin like target disks (Ø 24 mm x 2mm). The maximal effective target size is Ø 12 mm x 1 mm. The SIS2 is used for the irradiation of metal foils, which are crimped inside the disk in between a cover and a backing plate. SIS1 has been modified to operate target capsules with a maximal effective target size of Ø 12 mm x 4 mm. This enables the irradiation of powders and pellets aside its use for metal foils. Both irradiation systems can be pre-loaded with 3 targets for consecutive irradiations. Different target materials are used for irradiation, like metal foils (Sc-45(p,n)Ti-45, Ti-48(p,n)V-48, V-nat(p,n)Cr-51, Ni-64(p,n)Cu-64, Y 89(p,n)Zr-89, Pd-nat(p,n)Ag-105), metal powders (Ti-48(p,n)V-48, Fe-nat(p,n)Co-56, Pt-nat(p,n)Au-194), oxides (La-nat(p,n)Ce-139), carbonates (Sr 86(p,n)Y-86, Sr 88(p,n)Y-88, Ba-135(p,n)La-135) and chlorides (Rb-85(p,n)Sr-85). If required electroplating or pellet pressing is applied for target preparation. After irradiation the targets are transferred out of the vault by a conveyer system. For target processing different techniques, like liquid/liquid extraction, liquid/solid extraction and chromatography are used. Radionuclidical purity is shown by gamma-ray spectrometry.
The presented methods allow us a straightforward and reliable production of n.c.a. radionuclides for our research purposes and an effective recovery of the enriched target materials. Target irradiation, preparation and processing are easily adapted in accordance to the experimental needs.

Keywords: solid target; cyclotron

  • Poster
    17th International Workshop on Targetry and Target Chemistry (WTTC17), 27.-31.08.2018, Coimbra, Portugal

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27428
Publ.-Id: 27428


Freisetzung und Rückhaltung von Radionukliden in Systemen mit Zementphasen, Zuschlagstoffen und Tongestein.

Wolter, J.-M.; Philipp, T.; Schmeide, K.; Schymura, S.; Huittinen, N.; Stumpf, T.

Leaching experiments of uranium(VI) and Cm(III) doped calcium-silicate-hydrate (CSH) phases with various calcium to silicon ratios were carried out in NaCl, NaCl/Na2SO4, NaCl/NaHCO3 and NaHCO3 containing solutions to study the time-dependent release of Ca, Si, U and Cm. Potential changes of the U(VI) and Cm(III)-CSH binding induced by leaching were monitored with time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy (TRLFS), infrared spectroscopy (IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD).
Furthermore, investigations of the Eu(III) sorption on Ca-bentonite in the presence of high ionic strengths and superplasticizer were carried out.
Additionally, the U(VI) binding to the Ca-bentonite surface in the hyper-alkaline pH region was studdied with EXAFS.

Keywords: Cm(III); U(VI); Eu(III); TRLFS; IR; EXAFS; PXRD; CSH; Ca-bentonite; NaCl; Na2SO4; NaHCO3; CaCl2

  • Lecture (others)
    6. Workshop des BMWi-Verbundvorhabens “Geochemische Radionuklidrückhaltung an Zementalterationsphasen (GRaZ)“, 25.-26.04.2018, Karlsruhe, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27425
Publ.-Id: 27425


Determination of the thermal cycle during flash lamp annealing without a direct temperature measurement

Rebohle, L.; Neubert, M.; Schumann, T.; Skorupa, W.

Flash lamp annealing (FLA) is a modern annealing technique which, starting from microelectronics, has spread over new application areas like flexible electronics, photovoltaics or thin film deposition. Because of the short annealing time in the range of milliseconds and below, FLA allows the suppression of unwanted processes like diffusion, the annealing of temperature-sensible substrates, and the saving of process time and energy. In addition, it is predestined for roll-to-roll applications. However, the determination of the thermal cycle during FLA is challenging. The existing methods for a direct temperature measurement, mostly based on pyrometry, are elaborate and have to solve the problem to detect thermal radiation against the background of the intense flash light. An alternative way is simulation, but now an extended knowledge about the flash and the material system to be flashed is needed. In this work we describe a methodology to determine the thermal cycle during FLA without the need for a direct temperature measurement. This methodology is based on an optical-thermodynamic simulation and calibration experiments which can be implemented with reasonable effort under certain assumptions. The simulation considers not only the properties of the flash and the sample, but also the reflectivity of the chamber walls. Finally, the pros and cons of this methodology are shortly discussed.

Keywords: flash lamp annealing; intense pulsed light; photonic sintering; temperature simulation

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Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27424
Publ.-Id: 27424


Genesis of hydrothermal silver-antimony-sulfide veins of the Braunsdorf sector as part of the classic Freiberg silver mining district, Germany

Burisch, M.; Hartmann, A.; Bach, W.; Krolop, P.; Gutzmer, J.

The peripheral regions of the Freiberg vein-type silver mining district comprise several sub districts of which Bräunsdorf was among the richest in terms of Ag grade. 114 t (ca. 3.9 million ounces) of Ag were historically produced from the Neue Hoffnung Gottes Mine near Bräunsdorf. Mining there exploited basically just one single hydrothermal vein, the Neuer Segen Gottes Stehender. The vein infill is marked by a polymetallic sulphide-quartz assemblage (known as kb stage across the Freiberg District) and abundant Ag-Sb-sulphide-carbonate-quartz mineralization, which is limited to the peripheral areas of the Freiberg District. Although Ag-Sb- and Sb-sulphides seem to be spatially and paragenetically closely related to each other, they typically do not occur together in the veins on the scale of meters. Instead, specific zones are dominated by Sb-sulphides without Ag or vice versa. Generally, the abundance of Ag-Sb-sulphides increases with depth.
To develop a sound genetic understanding of polymetallic sulphide-quartz and Ag-Sb-sulphide-carbonate-quartz mineralization in the Bräunsdorf sub district we conducted detailed textural analyses of ore and gangue minerals, fluid inclusion analyses, electron microprobe analyses and thermodynamic computations in order to characterize the ore fluids and ore-forming processes related to the Ag-Sb mineralization. The early-stage polymetallic-sulphide mineralization (stage 1) is related to fluids with low salinities (0.5 - 4 % eq. wt(NaCl)) and formed at temperatures ≥ 300 °C. Microthermometric data related to minerals of the slightly younger Ag-Sb-sulphide assemblage (stage 2) show a range in salinity similar to ore stage 1, but have significantly lower homogenisation temperatures of 280-180 °C. Dissolution textures of previous ore stage 1 minerals and qualitative fluid constraints based on mineral chemistry imply that the composition of the ore fluid changed significantly from Cu-, Pb-, Zn- and As -rich fluids present during ore stage 1 to Ag-Sb-rich fluids prevailing during ore stage 2. Based on fluid inclusion data cooling can be regarded as the major ore-forming process. Reaction path model calculations for cooling of fluids with different initial pH values (5, 6 and 7) reproduce the observed mineral assemblages very well and predict spatial zonation of the Ag-Sb- and Sb-sulphide minerals that are in excellent agreement with field observations. We conclude that Ag-rich zones may well occur below Sb-rich zones in hydrothermal vein-type systems similar to those of the Freiberg District. This relationship may be of potential use for exploration targeting.

Keywords: Freiberg District; stibnite; berthierite; tennantite-terahedrite group minerals; fluid inclusions; reaction path modelling

  • Contribution to proceedings
    GeoBonn, 02.-06.09.2018, Bonn, Deutschland
    Proceedings to GeoBonn
  • Lecture (Conference)
    GeoBonn, 02.-06.09.2018, Bonn, Deutschland
  • Mineralium Deposita 54(2019)2, 263-280
    DOI: 10.1007/s00126-018-0842-0
    Cited 19 times in Scopus

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27423
Publ.-Id: 27423


RawMatCop: developing skills at the intersection between earth observation and the raw materials community

Andreani, L.; Ibrahim, E.; Marzan, I.; Gloaguen, R.; Pirard, E.; Fernández, J.

The RawMatCop programme was launched in 2017 and aims to develop skills, expertise, demonstrations, and applications of Copernicus data to the raw materials sector. It is co-funded by the European Commission (DG for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs) and the EIT RawMaterials (RawMaterials Academy).
Raw materials have become increasingly important to the European Union's economy, growth, and competitiveness. In this context, the EU aims to facilitate the exchange of best practices among its member states to improve the sustainable and safe supply of raw materials to the EU economy and society. Thus, monitoring of mining activities and environmental impact of waste and residue management are key issues of that strategy. With state-of-the-art spaceborne imagery, Copernicus has a strong potential in contributing to EU’s requirements and expectations.
The aim of RawMatCop is to illustrate the usefulness of Copernicus data through three 'Research & Application Areas’ relevant for the raw materials sector: (1) multi-scale and multi-source exploration, (2) spatiotemporal mapping of dust dispersion around mining sites, (3) monitoring of surface/subsurface deformation.
Multispectral data proves to be an incredible tool for regional scale mapping of surface alterations associated to mineralization or mining activities. One clear advantage of Sentinel-2 data over other sensors is that it has a good coverage of the visible and near infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, which makes it an ideal tool for mapping iron-oxides. The current activities of RawMatCop include mapping alterations and iron features associated to Volcanic Hosted Massive Sulfides (Iberian Pyrite Belt, Spain) as well as mapping the weathering of lateritic profiles and iron-oxide associated to active mining in New Caledonia. For this purpose, several workflow based on downscaling from satellite based to in-situ observations are being tested. Furthermore, RawMatCorp is also contributing to the consistency assessment of mostly open-source atmospheric correction approaches used for Sentinel-2 processing (iCOR, Sen2Cor, MAJA) and the influence of the mining setting on their performance. Moreover, ground deformation is one of the most important hazards related to mining activities, and RawMatCorp is also addressing this topic through monitoring the Riotinto mine (SW Spain). This monitoring utilizes SAR and passive seismic techniques to develop a joint Early Warning System aiming to reduce risks on ground mechanical integrity.

Keywords: Raw materials; Copernicus; Sentinel; multispectral; SAR; exploration; mining

  • Poster
    Luxembourg Earth Observation Day, 19.04.2018, Mondorf-les-Bains, Luxembourg

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27422
Publ.-Id: 27422


Cognitive correlates of α4β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in mild Alzheimer's dementia

Sabri, O.; Meyer, P. M.; Gräf, S.; Hesse, S.; Wilke, S.; Becker, G.-A.; Rullmann, M.; Patt, M.; Luthardt, J.; Wagenknecht, G.; Hoepping, A.; Smits, R.; Franke, A.; Sattler, B.; Tiepolt, S.; Fischer, S.; Deuther-Conrad, W.; Hegerl, U.; Barthel, H.; Schönknecht, P.; Brust, P.

In early Alzheimer's dementia, there is a need for PET biomarkers of disease progression with close associations to cognitive dysfunction that may aid to predict further cognitive decline and neurodegeneration. Amyloid biomarkers are not suitable for that purpose. The α4β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (α4β2-nAChRs) are widely abundant in the human brain. As neuromodulators they play an important role in cognitive functions such as attention, learning and memory. Post-mortem studies reported lower expression of α4β2-nAChRs in more advanced Alzheimer's dementia. However, there is ongoing controversy whether α4β2-nAChRs are reduced in early Alzheimer's dementia. Therefore, using the recently developed α4β2-nAChR-specific radioligand (-)-18F-flubatine and PET, we aimed to quantify the α4β2-nAChR availability and its relationship to specific cognitive dysfunction in mild Alzheimer's dementia. Fourteen non-smoking patients with mild Alzheimer's dementia, drug-naïve for cholinesterase therapy, were compared with 15 non-smoking healthy controls matched for age, sex and education by applying (-)-18F-flubatine PET together with a neuropsychological test battery. The one-tissue compartment model and Logan plot method with arterial input function were used for kinetic analysis to obtain the total distribution volume (VT) as the primary, and the specific binding part of the distribution volume (VS) as the secondary quantitative outcome measure of α4β2-nAChR availability. VS was determined by using a pseudo-reference region. Correlations between VT within relevant brain regions and Z-scores of five cognitive functions (episodic memory, executive function/working memory, attention, language, visuospatial function) were calculated. VT (and VS) were applied for between-group comparisons. Volume of interest and statistical parametric mapping analyses were carried out. Analyses revealed that in patients with mild Alzheimer's dementia compared to healthy controls, there was significantly lower VT, especially within the hippocampus, fronto-temporal cortices, and basal forebrain, which was similar to comparisons of VS. VT decline in Alzheimer's dementia was associated with distinct domains of impaired cognitive functioning, especially episodic memory and executive function/working memory. Using (-)-18F-flubatine PET in patients with mild Alzheimer's dementia, we show for the first time a cholinergic α4β2-nAChR deficiency mainly present within the basal forebrain-cortical and septohippocampal cholinergic projections and a relationship between lower α4β2-nAChR availability and impairment of distinct cognitive domains, notably episodic memory and executive function/working memory. This shows the potential of (-)-18F-flubatine as PET biomarker of cholinergic α4β2-nAChR dysfunction and specific cognitive decline. Thus, if validated by longitudinal PET studies, (-)-18F-flubatine might become a PET biomarker of progression of neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's dementia.

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27421
Publ.-Id: 27421


Phytotoxicity of tin mine waste and accumulation of involved heavy metals in common buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench)

Franzaring, J.; Damsohn, W.; Fangmeier, A.; Schlosser, S.; Kurz, H.; Büttner, P.

Extraction and processing of cassiterite (SnO2) left large tailings with high concentrations of tin, tungsten, molybdenum and lithium. Information on the phytotoxicity of mine waste is important with regard to ecological hazards. Exposure studies help to identify plants useful for the stabilization of waste tips and the phytomining of metals. A greenhouse study was performed using a dilution series of mine waste and four crops, a halophytic and a metallophytic species to derive dose response curves. Based on effective doses for growth reductions, sensitivity increased in the following order: maize > common buckwheat > quinoa > garden bean. Element analyses in different species and compartments of common buckwheat grown in a mixture of standard soil and 25% of the mine waste showed that only low levels of the metals were taken up and that transfer to seed tissues was negligible. As indicated by soil metal levels prior to and after the experiment, only lithium and arsenic proved to be plant available and reached high levels in green tissues while seed levels were low. The experiment confirmed differences in the uptake of metals with regard to elements and species. Common buckwheat is a suited candidate for cultivation on metal polluted soils. © 2018 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Keywords: bioaccumulationdose-response; curvessoil; contaminationsoil; reclamation

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27420
Publ.-Id: 27420


A wired-AND transistor: Polarity controllable FET with multiple inputs

Simon, M.; Trommer, J.; Liang, B.; Fischer, D.; Baldauf, T.; Khan, M. B.; Heinzig, A.; Knaut, M.; Georgiev, Y. M.; Erbe, A.; Bartha, J. W.; Mikolajick, T.; Weber, W. M.

Introduction: Reconfigurable field effect transistors (RFET) have the ability to toggle polarity between n- and pconductance at runtime [1], [2]. The here presented multiple independent gate (MIG) RFET expands the device functionality by offering additional logical inputs, valuable for e.g. efficient XOR or majority gate implementations [3], [4] or the here originally presented multiplexer circuit. Moreover, for the first time with a top-down RFET approach equal ON-currents are obtained for every configuration while requiring only one supply voltage (VDD).
Working principle: The presented RFET consists of an intrinsic silicon nanowire channel (Fig. 1a). At both ends NiSi₂ is intruded, which has a work function aligned near to the middle of the Si band gap. Each of the resulting Schottky junctions is gated individually (CG1, PG) and additional gates are introduced along the channel (CG2, CG3). The program gate (PG) determines the device’s polarity and has the same potential as the corresponding drain (0 V for hole or VDD for electron conductance). If all control gates (CG1-3) are biased equally, the RFET turns ON Fig. 3a, b, f, g). Whenever any or all CGs are biased equally to the source’s potential, a potential barrier is formed, switching the RFET OFF (Fig. 3c-e, h-j). Hence, the FET works as wired-AND logic gate (Fig. 6a).
The fabrication with CMOS compatible processes and materials is based on a 20 nm silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer and requires no doping. The nanowire is formed by a reactive ion etch process [5]. By repeated oxidation and HF etching the wire is further rounded and thinned to ca. 60 nm width and 4 nm height. An omega-shaped gate stack of 5 nm SiO₂, and conductive TiN, Ti and Pt surrounds and radially compresses the wire (Fig. 1b). Finally, nickel is deposited at both ends of the wire and atomically abrupt and flat NiSi₂ Schottky junctions are formed (Fig. 1c).
Performance: The transfer characteristics in Fig. 4 reveal an ON/OFF ratio of five orders of magnitudes and ONcurrents which are equal regardless of the programmed configuration. Additionally, only one supply voltage is needed for gates and drain. Despite its necessity for the use in complementary logic circuits, this symmetry was never achieved before for top-down fabricated RFETs. For NiSi₂ and Si, the Schottky barrier height is slightly lower for holes than for electrons leading to initially asymmetric ON-currents. However, by the influence of the omega gate stressor on the band structure the electron and hole injection through the Schottky barrier can be equalized as demonstrated in Fig. 2 [6]. Fig. 4 further shows that the minimum subthreshold swing SS and threshold voltage are lower for the switching with CG2 and CG3 than for all combinations including CG1. This is because CG1 directly controls the inlet at the Schottky junction whereas the other gates only build a conventional channel barrier. Having two efficiently switching gates (CG2+3), as demonstrated for the first time, thus improves the efficiency of RFETs.
From Fig. 5 it can be seen that the gates’ voltage determines the shape of the output characteristics. Hole dominated currents rise with retard because the injecting Schottky barrier is still non-transparent for tunneling at VD = 0 V.
Applications of the device reach from camouflage circuits for hardware secure authentication [7] and fine-grained FPGAs [8] over area and power-delay optimized circuits [3], [4] to novel logic synthesis based on majority-inverter graphs [9]. As a graspable and novel example, the presented device can serve as transmission gate (Fig. 6b) in a multiplexer (MUX) (Fig. 6c, d), which requires program gates at both in- and output. An n-bit MUX can be reduced by every second stage, thus only (2^[n+1]− 2^i)/3 transmission gates are required, with i=1 for odd and i=2 for even numbers of n (with classical CMOS: 2^[n+1] − 2). For a 4-bit MUX this results in altogether 30% less transistors when considering also the select and program signal inverters and the reduced buffer needs (Fig. 6e). Eventually, more gates per transistor can further reduce the transistor count, e.g. for a 5-gate RFET in a 6-bit MUX by even 42%.
[1] A. Heinzig et al., Nano Lett., vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 119–124, (2012).
[2] M. D. Marchi et al., in Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM), 2012 IEEE International, pp. 8.4.1–8.4.4, (2012).
[3] P.-E. Gaillardon et al., in Test Symposium (LATS), 2016 17th Latin-American, pp. 195–200, (2016).
[4] J. Trommer et al., in 2016 Design, Automation Test in Europe Conference Exhibition (DATE), pp. 169–174, (2016).
[5] M. Simon et al., IEEE Trans. Nanotechnol., vol. 16, no. 5, pp. 812–819, (2017).
[6] T. Baldauf et al., Solid-State Electron., vol. 128, pp. 148–154, (2017).
[7] Y. Bi et al., in 2014 IEEE 23rd Asian Test Symposium, pp. 342–347, (2014).
[8] P. E. Gaillardon et al., IEEE Trans. Very Large Scale Integr. (VLSI) Syst., vol. 23, no. 10, pp. 2187–2197, (2015).
[9] L. Amaru et al., Proc. IEEE, vol. 103, no. 11, pp. 2168–2195, (2015).

Related publications

  • Contribution to proceedings
    76th Device Research Conference (DRC), 2018, 24.-27.06.2018, Santa Barbara, USA
    Conference Digest, DRC, 8442159

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27419
Publ.-Id: 27419


Controlled Nickel Silicidation of Silicon Nanowires for Fabrication of Reconfigurable Field Effect Transistors

Khan, M. B.; Deb, D.; Georgiev, Y. M.; Prucnal, S.; Voelskow, M.; Erbe, A.

Physical scaling down of field effect transistors (FET) is reaching its end. To meet the consistent demand for faster, smaller and energy efficient transistors, new concepts which include new materials, new architectures, new computation principles and enhanced functionality are under research. Focus of this work is to fabricate devices with enhanced functionality, the so called reconfigurable FET (RFET) which can be configured as p- or n-channel FET. These FETs are realized by fabricating silicon nanowires (SiNWs) on Si on insulator (SOI) substrates. These NWs are subsequently nickel silicided at both ends to form Si-NiSi2-Si Schottky junctions. Control over silicide length is important to scale Si channel and to have symmetric contacts on both sides of nanowires. Focus of our recent work is achieve this control over silicidation by using flash lamp annealing (FLA). Comparison between silicidation using flash lamp annealing (FLA) and rapid thermal annealing (FLA) along with the resulting electrical characteristics of these devices will be presented at the conference.

Related publications

  • Poster
    DPG-Frühjahrstagung 2018, 11.-16.03.2018, Berlin, Germany

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27418
Publ.-Id: 27418


Profiling of RT-PICLS Code

Kelling, J.; Juckeland, G.

It was observed, that the RT-PICLS code ran by FWKT on the hypnos cluster was producing an unusual amount of system load, according to Ganglia metrics. Since this may point to an IO-problem in the code, this code was analyzed more closely.

RT-PICLS was run with additionally provided input data on 64 CPU cores (AMD Opteron) in a single node of the hypnos cluster. Score-P 4.0 with IO-tracing support was used for profiling and tracing of the application. A developer version of Vampir 9.2 [3] enabled graphical analysis of the traces.

Different file systems were evaluated for storing the output:

  • bigdata: the high-performance file system of the cluster based on GPFS.
  • nfs: a loop-mounted EXT4 image mounted to the current compute node via NFS.
  • scr: the local scratch file-system of the compute node.
  • tmpfs: a virtual filesystem, physically located in the main memory of the compute node.

The trace files that were used to compile the referenced report are collected in this upload.

Keywords: Scorep; Vampir; Tracing; Profiling

Related publications

Downloads

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27417
Publ.-Id: 27417


Time-delayed multiple shocks

Kraus, D.

Time-delayed multiple shocks

  • Invited lecture (Conferences)
    Workshop on Dynamic Laser Compression Experiments at the HED instrument at European XFEL, 12.-14.09.2016, Hamburg, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27416
Publ.-Id: 27416


Structural transitions in shock-compressed (hydro) carbon(s)

Kraus, D.

Structural transitions in shock-compressed (hydro) carbon(s)

  • Invited lecture (Conferences)
    Workshop on High Pressure, Planetary and Plasma Physics, 14.-16.09.2016, Hamburg, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27415
Publ.-Id: 27415


Phase separation of hydrocarbons at conditions relevant to planetary interiors and the first shock in ICF

Kraus, D.

Phase separation of hydrocarbons at conditions relevant to planetary interiors and the first shock in ICF

  • Invited lecture (Conferences)
    4th High Power Laser Workshop, 03.-04.10.2016, Menlo Park, USA

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27414
Publ.-Id: 27414


Diagnostics of shock-compressed matter at X-ray facilities

Kraus, D.

The combination of pulsed high-energy lasers with highly brilliant X-ray sources has started to provide unprecedented in situ diagnostics of dynamically compressed materials. Combining various diagnostic techniques will be crucial in order to obtain an improved understanding of the extreme states of matter that are investigated in such experiments. This talk will discuss diagnostics that are planned for HPLF at ESRF in the context of other X-ray facilities that also provide high-energy laser systems.

  • Invited lecture (Conferences)
    2nd Workshop on "Studies of dynamically compressed matter with X-rays", 29.-30.03.2017, Grenoble, Frankreich

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27413
Publ.-Id: 27413


X-ray scattering and diffraction from samples driven by ultra-intense lasers

Kraus, D.

The combination of X-ray free electron lasers and ultra-intense optical lasers promises unprecedented opportunities to investigate matter at most extreme pressures and temperatures on ultra-short timescales, particularly accessing and resolving non-equilibrium dynamics. Recent experiments at LCLS and SACLA have demonstrated this great potential, but also identify certain technical challenges that need to be addressed for high-precision experiments. This talk will discuss exemplary X-ray diffraction and X-ray scattering results obtained with ultra-intense optical lasers at LCLS and SACLA.

  • Invited lecture (Conferences)
    Workshop on High Intensity Laser Science at the HED instrument at the European XFEL, 05.-06.04.2017, Hamburg, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27412
Publ.-Id: 27412


In situ investigation of nanodiamonds formed in shock compressed plastics

Kraus, D.

In situ investigation of nanodiamonds formed in shock compressed plastics

  • Invited lecture (Conferences)
    5th High-Power Laser Workshop, 27.-28.09.2017, Menlo Park, USA

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27411
Publ.-Id: 27411


Probing C-H mixtures at conditions relevant to planetary interiors and inertial confinement fusion

Kraus, D.

Carbon-hydrogen (C-H) mixtures at extreme pressure and temperature conditions are highly relevant for the interiors of icy giant planets like Neptune and Uranus where pressures of several Mbar are present in their deep interiors. Moreover, C-H is used as ablator material in contemporary inertial confinement fusion concepts. Here, the ablator material passes various warm dense matter and dense plasma states up to the Gbar regime. Experiments at state-of-the-art facilities allow for insights of unprecedented quality into such extreme states of matter. At the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), we have investigated C-H mixtures at conditions comparable to planetary interiors [1] and the very first compression stages of ICF showing structural transitions and chemical activity applying various X-ray diagnostic techniques in one experiment. In other experiments, performed at the National Ignition Facility and using spectrally resolved X-ray scattering in combination with radiography, we have investigated the ionization balance of warm and hot dense C-H at conditions that comparable to later compression stages of ICF as well the interiors of Brown Dwarfs or small stars. These results indicate that, particularly for mixtures, standard ionization models may require revisions in the regime of warm and hot dense matter [2].

[1] D. Kraus et al., Nature Astronomy 1, 606-611 (2017).
[2] D. Kraus et al., Physical Review E 94, 011202(R) (2016).

  • Invited lecture (Conferences)
    3rd International Conference on Matter and Radiation at Extremes, 06.-11.05.2018, Qingdao, China

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27410
Publ.-Id: 27410


Experimental Investigation of Diamond Precipitation inside Giant Planets

Kraus, D.; Vorberger, J.; Pak, A.; Hartley, N. J.; Fletcher, L. B.; Frydrych, S.; Galtier, E.; Gamboa, E. J.; Gericke, D. O.; Glenzer, S. H.; Granados, E.; Macdonald, M. J.; Mackinnon, A. J.; Mcbride, E. E.; Nam, I.; Neumayer, P.; Roth, M.; Saunders, A. M.; Schuster, A. K.; Sun, P.; van Driel, T.; Doeppner, T.; Falcone, R. W.

The effects of hydrocarbon reactions and diamond precipitation on the internal structure and evolution of icy giant planets like Neptune and Uranus have been discussed for more than three decades. Inside these celestial bodies, gravity compresses mixtures of light elements to densities of several grams per cubic centimeter while the temperature reaches thousands of kelvins resulting in thermal energies on the order of chemical bond energies and above. Under these conditions, simple hydrocarbons like methane, which are highly abundant in the atmospheres, are believed to undergo structural transitions that release hydrogen from deeper layers and may lead to compact stratified cores. Indeed, the isentropes of Uranus and Neptune intersect a temperature-pressure regime where first polymerization occurs, whereas in deeper layers, a phase separation into diamond and hydrogen may be possible. Here we show experimental evidence for this phase separation process obtained by in situ X-ray diffraction from polystyrene (C8H8)n samples dynamically compressed to conditions around 150 GPa and 5000 K, which resembles the environment ~10,000 km below the surfaces of Neptune and Uranus [1]. Our findings demonstrate the necessity of high pressures for initiating carbon-hydrogen demixing and imply that diamond precipitation may require ~10x higher pressures than previously suggested by static compression experiments. In addition to their relevance for planetary modelling, by showing the formation of nanodiamonds from laser-irradiated plastic, our results identify a possible method to produce diamond nanoparticles for material science and industrial applications.

  • Invited lecture (Conferences)
    55th European High Pressure Research Group Meeting, 04.-08.09.2017, Poznan, Polen

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27409
Publ.-Id: 27409


Dense Plasma Chemistry of Hydrocarbons

Kraus, D.

Carbon-hydrogen demixing and subsequent diamond precipitation has been predicted to strongly participate in shaping the internal structure and evolution of icy giant planets like Neptune and Uranus. The very same dense plasma chemistry is also a potential concern for CH plastic ablator materials in inertial confinement fusion (ICF) experiments where similar conditions are present during the first compression stage of the imploding capsule. Here, carbon-hydrogen demixing may enhance the hydrodynamic instabilities occurring in the following compression stages. First experiments applying dynamic compression and ultrafast in situ X-ray diffraction at SLAC’s Linac Coherent Light Source demonstrated diamond formation from polystyrene (CH) at 150 GPa and 5000 K [1]. Very recent experiments have now investigated the influence of oxygen, which is highly abundant in icy giant planets on the phase separation process. Compressing PET (C5H4O2) and PMMA (C5H8O2) we find again diamond formation at pressures above ~150 GPa and temperatures of several thousand kelvins, showing no strong effect due to the presence of oxygen. Thus, diamond precipitation deep inside icy giant planets seems very likely. Moreover, small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) was added to the platform, which determines an upper limit for the diamond particle size, while the width of the diffraction features provides a lower limit. We find that diamond particles of several nanometers in size are formed on a nanosecond timescale. Finally, spectrally resolved X-ray scattering is used to absolutely scale amorphous diffraction signals and additionally allows for determining the amount of carbon-hydrogen demixing inside the compressed samples even if no crystalline diamond is formed. This whole set of diagnostics provides unprecedented insights into the nanosecond kinetics of dense plasma chemistry.

[1] D. Kraus et al., Nature Astronomy 1, 606-611 (2017).

  • Invited lecture (Conferences)
    EPS Conference on Plasma Physics, 02.-06.07.2018, Prag, Tschechien

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27408
Publ.-Id: 27408


Dense Plasma Chemistry of Hydrocarbons at Conditions Relevant to Planetary Interiors and ICF

Kraus, D.

Carbon-hydrogen demixing and subsequent diamond precipitation has been predicted to strongly participate in shaping the internal structure and evolution of icy giant planets like Neptune and Uranus. The very same dense plasma chemistry is also a potential concern for CH plastic ablator materials in inertial confinement fusion (ICF) experiments where similar conditions are present during the first compression stage of the imploding capsule. Here, carbon-hydrogen demixing may enhance the hydrodynamic instabilities occurring in the following compression stages. First experiments applying dynamic compression and ultrafast in situ X-ray diffraction at SLAC’s Linac Coherent Light Source demonstrated diamond formation from polystyrene (CH) at 150 GPa and 5000 K [1]. Very recent experiments have now investigated the influence of oxygen, which is highly abundant in icy giant planets on the phase separation process. Compressing PET (C5H4O2) and PMMA (C5H8O2) we find again diamond formation at pressures above ~150 GPa and temperatures of several thousand kelvins, showing no strong effect due to the presence of oxygen. Thus, diamond precipitation deep inside icy giant planets seems very likely. Moreover, small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) was added to the platform, which determines an upper limit for the diamond particle size, while the width of the diffraction features provides a lower limit. We find that diamond particles of several nanometers in size are formed on a nanosecond timescale. Finally, spectrally resolved X-ray scattering is used to absolutely scale amorphous diffraction signals and additionally allows for determining the amount of carbon-hydrogen demixing inside the compressed samples even if no crystalline diamond is formed. This whole set of diagnostics provides unprecedented insights into the nanosecond kinetics of dense plasma chemistry.
[1] D. Kraus et al., “Formation of diamonds in laser-compressed hydrocarbons at planetary interior conditions”, to appear in Nature Astronomy (2017)

  • Invited lecture (Conferences)
    APS DPP Meeting, 23.11.2017, Milwaukee, USA

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27407
Publ.-Id: 27407


Formation of diamonds in laser-compressed hydrocarbons at planetary interior conditions

Kraus, D.

The effects of hydrocarbon reactions and diamond precipitation on the internal structure and evolution of icy giant planets such as Neptune and Uranus have been discussed for more than three decades. Inside these celestial bodies, simple hydrocarbons such as methane, which are highly abundant in the atmospheres, are believed to undergo structural transitions that release hydrogen from deeper layers and may lead to compact stratified cores. Indeed, from the surface towards the core, the isentropes of Uranus and Neptune intersect a temperature–pressure regime in which methane first transforms into a mixture of hydrocarbon polymers, whereas, in deeper layers, a phase separation into diamond and hydrogen may be possible. Here we show experimental evidence for this phase separation process obtained by in situ X-ray diffraction from polystyrene, PET ant PMMA samples dynamically compressed to conditions around 150 GPa and 5,000 K; these conditions resemble the environment around 10,000 km below the surfaces of Neptune and Uranus. Our findings demonstrate the necessity of high pressures for initiating carbon–hydrogen separation and imply that diamond precipitation may require pressures about ten times as high as previously indicated by static compression experiments. Our results will inform mass–radius relationships of carbon-bearing exoplanets, provide constraints for their internal layer structure and improve evolutionary models of Uranus and Neptune, in which carbon–hydrogen separation could influence the convective heat transport. In addition to their relevance for planetary modelling, by showing the formation of diamonds that are possibly a few nanometers in size from laser-irradiated plastic, our results may identify a new method to produce diamond nanoparticles for material science and industrial applications.

*We acknowledge support by the U.S. DOE under awards DE-FG52-10NA29649 and DE-NA0001859 as well as the Helmholtz Association under award VH-NG-1141.

  • Invited lecture (Conferences)
    APS March Meeting, 05.-09.03.2018, Los Angeles, USA

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27406
Publ.-Id: 27406


Formation of diamonds in laser-compressed hydrocarbons at planetary interior conditions

Kraus, D.

High-energy laser systems can be used to mimic extreme states of matter, as found in the interior of various celestial bodies, in the laboratory. Combining such laser systems with extremely bright X-ray sources, particularly X-ray free electron lasers (XFELs), allows for studying exotic physical processes in real-time. This includes high-pressure phase separation reactions, such as diamond precipitation from liquid hydrocarbons, which has been predicted to happen deep inside Neptune and Uranus, and many other interesting phenomena.

At the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), we obtained experimental results from hydrocarbon samples that were laser-compressed to the extreme pressure and temperature conditions found in the deep interiors of such ‘icy’ giant planets [1]. The extreme brightness of the XFEL source enables unprecedented in situ snapshots of the induced chemical reactions and shows that diamond nucleation is initiated on sub-nanosecond timescales at ~150 GPa and ~5000 K. Combining several X-ray and optical diagnostic methods, we obtain high-quality constraints for theoretical models of the involved physical processes: X-ray diffraction records the formation of solid diamond structures, Small angle X-ray scattering determines the size distribution of the growing nanodiamonds while spectrally resolved X-ray scattering provides an absolute scale for the diffraction pattern giving the absolute amount of the reacting material that undergoes species separation. Optical velocimetry is used to characterize and optimize the laser-driven compression waves and optical reflectometry indicates that the isolated hydrogen produced by the phase separation reaction is in a metallic state. All these diagnostics can be used with single-shot quality in the same experiment and provide unprecedented insights into the nanosecond kinetics of chemical reactions at extreme pressures and temperatures.

Besides underlining the general importance of chemical processes inside giant planets, our results
will inform mass-radius relationships of carbon-bearing exoplanets, provide constraints for their internal layer structure and improve evolutionary models of Uranus and Neptune, where carbon-hydrogen separation could significantly influence the convective heat transport. Finally, our experiments may identify a new method to produce diamond nanoparticles for material science and
industrial applications.

[1] D. Kraus et al., Nature Astronomy 1, 606-611 (2017)

  • Invited lecture (Conferences)
    European XFEL Users Meeting, 22.-25.01.2018, Hamburg, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27405
Publ.-Id: 27405


Proving the Concept of Single Plane Compton Imaging for Radionuclide and Prompt Gamma-Ray Imaging

Kögler, T.; Berthold, J.; Deneva, B.; Enghardt, W.; Roemer, K.; Straessner, A.; Wagner, A.; Werner, T.; Pausch, G.

The paper reports on first attempts to prove the concept of Single Plane Compton Imaging (SPCI), recently proposed on the basis of simulations, in practice. SPCI combines electronic collimation as known from conventional Compton cameras with a much simpler detector design: Multiple scintillator pixels are arranged alongside in a single detection plane. Imaging information is encoded in a set of ‘conditional’ spectra meaning energy deposition distributions in single pixels obliged with the condition of a coincident detection in another (adjacent) pixel. The activity distribution is iteratively reconstructed from the measured projections (the bin contents of the conditional spectra) by using Maximum Likelihood Expectation Maximization (MLEM) algorithms.
This concept has been approached experimentally with two distinct setups addressing the application fields of radionuclide imaging in nuclear medicine, and of prompt-gamma based range verification in radiooncology with proton beams. The first setup consists of a 4×4 array of about 7 × 7 × 20 mm3 GAGG scintillator pixels read out with a Philips STEK module comprising 4×4 digital silicon photomultiplier dies. Data were taken with radioactive point sources arranged in few-cm distance from the scintillator pixels. The second setup consists of much larger monolithic cerium bromide scintillation detectors arranged head-to-head in pairs. Those were exposed to prompt gamma radiation produced by a 90 MeV proton beam in a beam-stopping polymethyl acrylate (PMMA) target. Though data analyses are not yet finished, the effects enabling imaging are clearly visible. Preliminary plots exemplify the applicability of SPCI in both applications. The experimental activities have been closely accompanied with appropriate modeling using the Geant4 toolkit

Keywords: Gamma imaging; Compton imaging; nuclear medicine; Anger camera; proton therapy; treatment verification; range verification; prompt gamma; scintillation detector

  • Lecture (Conference)
    2018 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference, 10.-17.11.2018, Sydney, Australia

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27404
Publ.-Id: 27404


A Maximum-Likelihood Timing Resolution Estimation algorithm for TOF-PET

Nikulin, P.; Lougovski, A.; Hofheinz, F.; Maus, J.; van den Hoff, J.

Timing resolution in time-of-flight (TOF) PET is known to be to a different extend count-rate dependent, while using the actual timing resolution during TOF-PET image reconstruction is crucial for achieving high contrast recovery. However, a count-rate dependent TOF-resolution calibration procedure is usually not provided by the vendor. We therefore developed such a procedure which is compatible with clinical routine and is also applicable retrospectively to existing data.

We propose a novel Maximum-Likelihood Timing Resolution Estimation algorithm that maximizes likelihood by updating activity image and TOF-kernel width alternately. For activity update TOF-MLEM was used and quadratic surrogate based maximization of the likelihood was performed to update timing resolution.

The algorithm was integrated into our previously developed reconstruction tool THOR, see ref. (1), and evaluated using the Philips Ingenuity TF PET/MR scanner and phantom and patient studies covering a large range of count-rates. Studies were grouped by imaging protocol ("brain" and "whole-body", covering different transaxial fields of view). Within each group a linear dependency of timing resolution on count-rate was observed which is in correspondence with reports by other groups. The timing resolution degradation value approaches 150 ps (~25% of initial TOF-kernel width) for clinical relevant count-rates. No difference in estimated timing resolution between the study groups was encountered.

Our preliminary results indicate that the proposed algorithm is capable of realistic timing resolution estimation. The timing resolution of the Philips Ingenuity TF PET/MR degrades rapidly with count-rate. This should be accounted for during image reconstruction.

(1) A. Lougovski, F. Hofheinz, J. Maus, et al., Physics in Medicine and Biology 59(3), 561 (2014)

Keywords: PET; MLEM; MLTRE; image reconstruction; TOF-PET; calibration; TOF-resolution

  • Poster
    56. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Nuklearmedizin, 18.-21.04.2018, Bremen, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27403
Publ.-Id: 27403


Characterization of the cesium sputter ion source for the new Felsenkeller 5 MV underground accelerator

Ludwig, F.; Koppitz, M.; Bemmerer, D.; Zuber, K.

In order to determine the cross section of the ¹²C(α,γ)¹⁶O reaction at astrophysically relevant energies, an accelerator with a stable and intensive ¹²C ion beam in an ultra low background environment is needed. For this purpose a 134-MC-SNICS cesium sputter ion source is going to be part of the Felsenkeller shallow underground accelerator facility. To determine the characteristics of this ion source overground tests were undertaken at HZDR. The contribution will report on long time measurements of the ion current and the beam emittance.

  • Lecture (Conference)
    DPG Frühjahrstagung, 26.02.-02.03.2018, Bochum, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27402
Publ.-Id: 27402


Potential of 3D hyperspectral data for mineral exploration: an example from the Paleoproterozoic Mârmorilik Pb-Zn- deposit (Central-West Greenland)

Unger, G.; Zimmermann, R.; Kirsch, M.; Sørensen, E.-V.; Guarnieri, P.; Gloaguen, R.

Due to modern society’s high demand for raw materials and the gradual depletion of low-cost mineral ores, mineral exploration campaigns and geological mapping increasingly require the development of sustainable, cost-efficient and easily applicable methods. Sustainability is a critical issue especially for exploration in Arctic regions with their unique and sensitive ecosystems. This study validates the potential of a newly developed multi-source and multi-scale remote sensing approach and will showcase how spectral imaging supports less invasive geological exploration work. Our workflow brings traditional 2D hyperspectral data into the third dimension with the help of SfM-MVS (Structure from Motion-Multi View Stereo) derived pointclouds, which provide a basis for evaluation of material properties and geological structures in a geometrically accurate virtual environment. This approach can be used to guide the geologist in the field and thus decreases the geologist’s personal risk in the field, is less invasive than traditional mapping and may even reduce the number of required boreholes. The case study area is located in Central West Greenland and hosts the Black Angel Pb-Zn deposit. Central West Greenland is characterized by Arctic climate conditions and alpine terrain, which prevents the growth of vegetation, but makes access for field campaigns extremely difficult. Thus, a ground-based hyperspectral imaging system was employed to highlight small mineralogical differences in rocks that cannot be recognised in traditional RGB images and associated photogeological models. Based on well-defined absorption features of the carbonates within the Shortwave-Infrared (SWIR; 970–2500 nm), the marbles of the Paleoproterozoic Mârmorilik Formation can be divided into calcite- and dolomite-rich units. As a result, previously unknown deformation structures (faults and folds) and lithological boundaries within the apparently homogeneous marbles are clearly revealed. Additional mineral mapping procedures such as Spectral Feature Fitting highlight gypsum occurrences related to deformation and ore emplacement. The lithological boundaries and tectonic structures extracted from the hyperspectral 3D surface model are then extrapolated into the subsurface using existing well data. The proposed workflow is fast, efficient, and fully validated and should be considered as a viable alternative to traditional techniques in exploration mapping.

  • Lecture (Conference)
    EGU General Assembly 2018, 09.-13.04.2018, Wien, Österreich

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27401
Publ.-Id: 27401


Der Myonenfluss im zukünftigen Felsenkeller-Beschleunigerlabor

Ludwig, F.

Für die Auswertung und das Zusammenführen mehrerer Messungen eines Myonenteleskops wurde eine Software entwickelt. Diese wurde benutzt, um zwei Messreihen am Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf zu analysieren. Dabei wurde unter anderem die Polarwinkelabhängigkeit des Myonenflusses bestätigt.
Nachfolgend wurden Messungen in den Stollen des Felsenkellers durchgeführt. Hier wurde an mehreren Positionen in den Stollen 4, 8 und 9 gemessen. Auffälligkeiten im Myonenfluss der oberen Hemisphäre wurden analysiert und im Falle eines Standortes mit früheren Messungen und einer Simulation verglichen, wobei sich eine starke Diskrepanz zu den in dieser Arbeit gewonnenen Messergebnissen zeigte. Auch die Abhängigkeiten des Myonenflusses vom Polarwinkel und der Atmosphärentemperatur wurden betrachtet.

  • Master thesis
    TU Dresden, 2017
  • Poster
    Felsenkeller Workshop, 26.-28.06.2017, Dresden, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27400
Publ.-Id: 27400


Mapping sedimentary facies and fluvial-aeolian interaction by remote sensing (Sossusvlei, Namib Desert)

Feder, A.; Zimmermann, R.; Stollhofen, H.; Caracciolo, L.; Garzanti, E.; Andreani, L.

Sedimentary facies exert a primary control on sandstone diagenesis and reservoir quality. The Namib Sand Sea with its Sossusvlei playa-lake is often considered as a modern analogue for sandstone reservoirs. Remote sensing in combination with ground observations allowed us to map the facies distribution pattern of associated fluvial and aeolian sediments. Laboratory spectral signature measurements were used to further improve the separability of six major facies: modern aeolian sand, bypass surface, mud pool/mud drapes, heavy mineral lag, aeolian reworked and fossil dune remnant. Using a supervised classification algorithm trained by field observations, a combination of Principal Component Analysis, band ratios, texture and geomorphologic indices has shown the best result. This made it possible to create a map outlining the facies distribution pattern of the Sossusvlei area at a scale of 1:10 000. We propose this as a possible workflow to efficiently map and monitor desert environments and to investigate the interplay of aeolian and fluvial sediments, including their linked implications on diagenesis. This could improve paleoclimate modelling and even allow facies mapping on other planets.

Keywords: Sossus Sand Formation; World View 3; dune river interaction; modern sediments; facies mapping, cenocoic

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27399
Publ.-Id: 27399


Experimental study on the behaviour of the submerged jet in a cold liquid metal model for continuous casting of round blooms under the influence of rotating magnetic fields

Schurmann, D.; Willers, B.; Eckert, S.

Experimental results were obtained at the Mini-LIMMCAST facility [1], an experimental setup to model continuous casting of steel operated continuously as a loop with the cold liquid metal alloy GaInSn. The setup consists of a round mould with an inner diameter of 80 mm, representing a mould used in industrial bloom casting in a scale of 1:3. A mould-electromagnetic-stirrer (M-EMS) generated a rotating magnetic field (RMF) with different magnetic flux densities. Velocity profiles inside the mould were measured by Ultrasound Doppler Velocimetry (UDV). The experiments revealed an unexpected behaviour of the submerged jet: for medium magnetic field strengths of the RMF it can be observed, that the jet stops circling and stays at one position in the mould, bearing the risk of breakout due to continuous impingement of superheated material to one position of the solidified shell.

Keywords: Liquid Metal Model; Ultrasound Doppler Velocimetry (UDV); Continuous Casting; Rotating Magnetic Field (RMF)

  • Open Access Logo IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering 424(2018), 012005
    DOI: 10.1088/1757-899X/424/1/012005
    Cited 1 times in Scopus
  • Lecture (Conference)
    9th International Symposium on Electromagnetic Processing of Materials (EPM2018), 14.-18.10.2018, Awaji Yumebutai, Hyogo, Japan

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27398
Publ.-Id: 27398


Korrelation des Ki-67 Proliferationsindex mit der Asphärizität als Heterogenitätsparameter in neuroendokrinen Neoplasien des gastroenteropankreatischen Systems (GEP-NEN)

Wetz, C.; Genseke, P.; Ghazzawi, S.; Rogasch, J.; Schatka, I.; Hofheinz, F.; Furth, C.; Kreißl, M.; Großer, O.; Amthauer, H.

Ziel/Aim:

Die Asphärizität (ASP) des Somatostatinrezeptors kann bei Patienten mit GEP-NEN zur prätherapeutischen Prognoseabschätzung vor Lu-177-DOTATATE-Peptidrezeptor-Radionuklidtherapie (PRRT) herangezogen werden [1, 2]. Ziel der Studie war es, die Korrelation zwischen der intratherapeutisch mittels SPECT/CT bestimmten ASP und dem Ki-67 Index zu überprüfen.

Methodik/Methods:

Retrospektive Analyse von 31 Patienten (m=19; w=12; medianes Alter 72,6 [45-87] Jahre) mit einer GEP-NEN. Die ASP wurde läsionsbasiert aus SPECT/CT-Daten im Rahmen einer Dosimetrie (24h p.i.) im 1. Zyklus der PRRT erhoben. Der Ki-67 Index (Median 4; Spannweite 1-20) wurde mittels Stanzbiopsie oder chirurgischer Sicherung bestimmt. Spearmans-Rangkorrelationskoeffizient rho sowie Bland-Altman-Diagramme wurden zur statistischen Auswertung verwendet, als Konkordanz wurde eine Abweichung von <=5% definiert.

Ergebnisse/Results:

Insgesamt wurden 62 hepatische Läsionen analysiert. Der Ki-67 Index wurde histologisch aus dem Primarius (n=22) oder aus hepatischen Läsionen (n=9) ermittelt. Die G1-Tumorläsionen zeigten eine mediane ASP von 2,2% (IQR: 1,1-5,2) und die G2-Läsionen eine mediane ASP von 2,8 (IQR: 0,78-6,0; p>0,05). Der Korrelationskoeffizient betrug rho=0,51 (p<0,01). Die mittlere absolute Differenz zwischen ASP und Ki-67 Index betrug 0,66 (95% Limits of Agreement, -9,2–10,5). Hierbei verhielten sich 4/62 Läsionen diskordant.

Schlussfolgerungen/Conclusions:

Es zeigte sich eine signifikante Korrelation zwischen dem Anstieg des Ki-67 Index sowie dem Anstieg der ASP der Somatostatinrezeptorverteilung, welche somit ein Prädiktor für eine Entdifferenzierung von GEP-NEN darstellen könnte. Eine Klassifizierung der NEN in G1 oder G2 war durch die ASP jedoch nicht möglich.

  • Poster
    Jahrestagung der DGN, 19.-21.04.2018, Bremen, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27397
Publ.-Id: 27397


Vergleich der Tumorheterogenität auf Basis der In-111-DTPA-Octerotid SPECT/CT und der Lu-177-DOTATATE SPECT/CT bei Patienten mit metastasierter neuroendokriner Neoplasie (NEN)

Wetz, C.; Genseke, P.; Ghazzawi, S.; Rogasch, J.; Apostolova, I.; Hofheinz, F.; Furth, C.; Kreißl, M.; Großer, O.; Amthauer, H.

Ziel/Aim:

In der Bildgebung von gastroenteropankreatischen NEN (GEP-NEN) kann die Heterogenität der Somatostinrezeptorverteilung als prognostischer Parameter vor einer PRRT herangezogen werden [1, 2]. Ziel der Studie war die Validierung der Asphärizität (ASP) zur prätherapeutischen Prognoseabschätzung mittels In-111-DTPA-Octreotid-SPECT/CT (OctreoScan®) in Korrelation zum intratherapeutischem SPECT/CT bei Lu-177-DOTATATE-Peptidrezeptor-Radionuklidtherapie (PRRT).

Methodik/Methods:

Retrospektive Analyse von 20 Patienten (m=14; w=6; medianes Alter, 72,6 [54-87] Jahre) mit einer GEP-NEN. Die ASP wurde läsionsbasiert im OctreoScan® (ASPIn) und im Rahmen der Dosimetrie (24h p.i.) im 1. Zyklus der PRRT (ASPLu) bestimmt. Die Korrelation wurde mittels Spearmans-Rangkorrelationskoeffizient rho verglichen und die Übereinstimmung mit Bland-Altman-Diagrammen ermittelt. Konkordanz lag bei einer Abweichung von <=5% vor.

Ergebnisse/Results:

Insgesamt wurden 77 Läsionen (Leber: n=60, Lymphknoten: n=11, Knochen: n=4, Pankreas: n=2) analysiert. Läsionen mit hoher ASP zeigten ein signifikant schlechteres Ansprechen auf eine PRRT. Der optimale Schwellenwert lag für die ASPIn bei <5,12% (Sensitivität 90% und Spezifität 93%) und für die ASPLu bei <5,02% (Sensitivität 92% und Spezifität 89%). Der Korrelationskoeffizient betrug rho=0,72 (p<0,01). Die mittlere absolute Differenz zwischen ASPIn und ASPLu betrug -0,04 (95% Limits of Agreement, -6,1–6,0). 10/77 Läsionen (7/60 Leber, 1/10 Lymphknoten, 2/6 Sonstige) verhielten sich diskordant.

Schlussfolgerungen/Conclusions:

Trotz unterschiedlichem Rezeptoraffinitätsprofil und anderem Radionuklid zeigt die prä-/intratherapeutische Asphärizität auf Basis der Rezeptorexpression eine hohe Korrelation. Dies unterstreicht den Stellenwert der prätherapeutischen ASP in der Prädiktion des Ansprechens auf eine PRRT und sollte als weiteres Kriterium für die Patientenauswahl prospektiv validiert werden.

  • Poster
    Jahrestagung der DGN, 19.-21.04.2018, Bremen, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27396
Publ.-Id: 27396


Pretherapeutic FDG-PET total metabolic tumor volume predicts response to induction therapy in pediatric Hodgkin’s lymphoma

Rogasch, J. M.; Hundsdoerfer, P.; Hofheinz, F.; Wedel, F.; Schatka, I.; Brenner, W.; Amthauer, H.; Furth, C.

Standardized treatment in pediatric patients with Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL) follows risk stratification by tumor stage, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and tumor bulk. We aimed to identify quantitative parameters from pretherapeutic FDG-PET to assist prediction of response to induction chemotherapy.

Methodik/Methods:

Retrospective analysis in 50 children with HL (f:18; m:32; median age, 14.8 [4-18] a) consecutively treated according to EuroNet-PHL-C1 (n=42) or -C2 treatment protocol (n=8). Total metabolic tumor volume (MTV) in pretherapeutic FDG-PET was defined using a semi-automated, background adapted threshold. Metabolic (SUVmax/mean/peak, total lesion glycolysis [MTV*SUVmean]) and heterogeneity parameters (asphericity [ASP], entropy, contrast, local homogeneity, energy, and cumulative SUV-volume histograms) were derived. Early response assessment (ERA) was performed after 2 cycles of induction chemotherapy according to treatment protocol and verified by reference rating. Prediction of inadequate response (IR) in ERA was based on ROC analysis separated by stage 1/2 (1 and 26 patients) and stage 3/4 disease (7 and 16 patients) or treatment group/level (TG/TL) 1 to 3.

Ergebnisse/Results:

IR was seen in 28/50 patients (TG/TL1, 6/12 patients; TG/TL2, 10/17; TG/TL3, 12/21). Among all PET parameters, MTV best predicted IR; ASP was the best heterogeneity parameter. AUC of MTV was 0.84 (95%-confidence interval, 0.69-0.99) in stage 1/2 and 0.86 (0.7-1.0) in stage 3/4. In patients of TG/TL1, AUC of MTV was 0.92 (0.74-1.0); in TG/TL2 0.71 (0.44-0.99), and in TG/TL3 0.85 (0.69-1.0). Patients with high vs. low MTV had IR in 86 vs. 0% in TG/TL1, 80 vs. 29% in TG/TL2, and 90 vs. 27% in TG/TL3 (cut-off, >80 ml, >160 ml, >410 ml).

Schlussfolgerungen/Conclusions:

In this explorative study, high total MTV best predicted inadequate response to induction therapy in pediatric HL of all pretherapeutic FDG-PET parameters – in both low and high tumor stages as well as the 3 different TG/TL.

  • Lecture (Conference)
    Jahrestagung der DGN, 19.-21.04.2018, Bremen, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27395
Publ.-Id: 27395


Prognostische Relevanz von FDG-PET/CT-basierten Biomarkern bei Kopf-Hals-Tumoren: Total Lesion Glycolysis (TLG) übertrifft klinische Parameter

Weidt, D.; Spanier, G.; Meier, J.; Hofheinz, F.; Reichert, T.; Hellwig, D.; Grosse, J.

Ziel/Aim:

Ziel der retrospektiven Studie war die Evaluation der prognostischen Relevanz der FDG-PET/CT-basierten Biomarker maximaler und mittlerer SUV (SUVmax, SUVmean), metabolisches Tumorvolumen (MTV) und total lesion glycolysis (TLG) im Primarius bei Erstdiagnose eines oralen Plattenepithelkarzinoms (OSSC). Der Einfluss auf das Gesamtüberleben (OS) wurde mit etablierten Prognoseparametern verglichen.

Methodik/Methods:

Einschluss von 127 Patienten mit zwischen 2006 und 2013 bioptisch gesichertem OSCC und präoperativer FDG-PET/CT (3 MBq/kg Körpergewicht, Start 60 min p.i., Biograph 16, Siemens). Messung von SUVmax, SUVmean, MTV (Schwellenwert: 41% SUVmax) und TLG im Primarius mittels ROVER (ABX, Radebeul). Berechnung des OS nach Kaplan-Meier. Analyse prognostischer Parameter mit uni-/multivariater Cox-Regression.

Ergebnisse/Results:

In der Nachbeobachtung starben 52 (41%) der Patienten (Status aller Patienten über mindestens 36 Monate bekannt). Das mediane OS war länger bei geringerem MTV (≤5,3 ml: >95 Monate; >5,3 ml: 59 Monate; p=0,006) oder TLG (≤38,7 g: 95 Monate; >38,7 g: 47 Monate; p<0,001). SUVmax und SUVmean hatten keinen Einfluss auf das OS (p>0,05). Die univariate Cox-Regression identifizierte MTV (Hazard Ratio [HR]=2,260, p=0,005), TLG (HR=2,808, p=0,001), Lymphknoten (LK)-Status (HR=2,234, p=0,005) und UICC-Stadium (HR=2,095, p=0,021) als Prognosefaktoren, nicht jedoch Geschlecht, Alter (>60 J), oder Tabak-/Alkoholabusus. Multivariat erwiesen sich nur MTV (HR=1,991, p=0,019) und TLG (HR=2,808, p=0,001) als unabhängige Prognosefaktoren.

Schlussfolgerungen/Conclusions:

MTV und TLG des Primarius sind Prognosefaktoren für das OS bei Patienten mit Erstdiagnose eines OSCC. TLG ist der stärkste unabhängige Prognosefaktor für das OS und übertrifft etablierte klinische Parameter.

  • Lecture (Conference)
    Jahrestagung der DGN, 19.-21.04.2018, Bremen, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27394
Publ.-Id: 27394


Integrating whole-body metabolic tumor burden and serum biomarkers for comprehensive characterization of disease activity in patients with advanced multiple myeloma

Klene, C.; Apostolova, I.; Buchert, R.; Klutmann, S.; Mester, J.; Hofheinz, F.; Adam, G.; Kröger, N.; Derlin, T.

Ziel/Aim:

Estimation of tumor load in multiple myeloma (MM) is challenging. The biomarker ß2 microglobulin (ß2M) is widely used to estimate myeloma cell mass and prognosis, but serum levels are influenced by a variety of factors such as varying secretion by myeloma cell clones and renal function. High serum levels of lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) have been shown to identify high-grade lymphoma-like myeloma. PET/CT is a useful tool for assessment of MM, particularly by identifying prognostically relevant, metabolically active disease.Aim of this study was to further characterize the association between whole-body metabolic tumor burden and serum markers in MM.

Methodik/Methods:

We retrospectively recruited 31 patients (55.7± 9.2 y) who had underwent whole-body FDG PET/CT (48 scans) for assessment of relapse or progressive disease after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Patients with at least one FDG-positive lesion were included. Metabolic tumor burden (MTV) was determined using an automatic segmentation algorithm (Rover ABX GmbH), and was tested for correlation with serum ß2M (primary hypothesis) as well as with LDH, albumin, creatinine, calcium and gamma globulin (explorative tests).

Ergebnisse/Results:

Median metabolic tumor burden was 71.4ml (range: 5-1318ml). ß2M did not demonstrate a significant correlation with metabolic tumor burden (Spearman rho=0.070, p=0.649). PET-defined myeloma burden was significantly correlated with LDH (rho=0.388, p=0.006). There was a tendency towards correlation with albumin (rho=-0.270, p=0.063). None of the other serum markers correlated with MTV.

Schlussfolgerungen/Conclusions:

PET-defined tumor burden provides incremental information over ß2M. FDG-uptake and ß2M define only partly overlapping measures of myeloma cell mass. PET may preferably identify high-grade lymphoma-like myeloma.

  • Poster
    Jahrestagung der DGN, 19.-21.04.2018, Bremen, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27393
Publ.-Id: 27393


Automatic aorta delineation and blood SUV determination for computation of standard uptake ratios (SUR)

Hofheinz, F.; Petr, J.; Apostolova, I.; Lange, C.; Weidt, D.; Hellwig, D.; Kotzerke, J.; van den Hoff, J.

Ziel/Aim:

Accurate calibration is a prerequisite for SUV quantification in PET and usually performed via phantom measurements. However, such a calibration is only valid for the used phantom since attenuation and scatter correction limitations affect quantification accuracy (QA) in-vivo. In recent studies in-vivo QA was assessed using bladder image vs. urine samples comparisons and showed a systematic underestimate of SUVs when relying on phantom-based calibration. A notable disadvantage of this approach is that it requires additional effort, making it unattractive for clinical use. The goal of this work was evaluation of an alternative method utilizing image-derived arterial blood SUVs (BSUV) averaged over a sufficiently large number of subjects.

Methodik/Methods:

We analyzed 681 patient scans from 3 sites which underwent routine 18F-FDG PET/CT or PET/MR. BSUVs were determined in the descending aorta using a roughly cylindrical ROI (delineated in the attenuation image and spatially transferred to PET). Minimum ROI volume was 5 ml and a safety margin used to avoid partial volume effects. Mean BSUVs, standard deviation (SD), and standard error of the mean (SEM) were computed for subgroups corresponding to 3 scanner calibrations of each site (9 subgroups, n=54-100). Intra- and inter-site variability was computed.

Ergebnisse/Results:

Relative SD (SEM) of BSUV in the subgroups ranged 14.3%–20.7% (2.8%–4.8%). BSUV-differences between intra-site groups were 1.8%–6.4% and mostly (5/6) insignificant. Inter-site BSUV-differences were significant and much larger (12.6%–25.1%, P<0.001).

Schlussfolgerungen/Conclusions:

Due to low inter-site BSUV-variability, group-averages can be computed with high statistical accuracy (<5%) in groups of ~70 patients and used for comparison of relative in-vivo QA. For multi-center trials this method can reveal inter-site differences at the 10% level and might even be used to calibrate image data between sites.

  • Lecture (Conference)
    Jahrestagung der DGN, 19.-21.04.2018, Bremen, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27392
Publ.-Id: 27392


Assessment of in vivo PET quantification accuracy using image derived arterial blood SUVs

Maus, J.; Hofheinz, F.; Apostolova, I.; Kreissl, M. C.; Kotzerke, J.; van den Hoff, J.

Aim: Accurate calibration is a prerequisite for SUV quantification in PET and usually performed via phantom measurements. However, such a calibration is only valid for the used phantom since attenuation and scatter correction limitations affect quantification accuracy (QA) in-vivo. In recent studies in-vivo QA was assessed using bladder image vs. urine samples comparisons and showed a systematic underestimate of SUVs when relying on phantom-based calibration. A notable disadvantage of this approach is that it requires additional effort, making it unattractive for clinical use. The goal of this work was evaluation of an alternative method utilizing image-derived arterial blood SUVs (BSUV) averaged over a sufficiently large number of subjects.

Methods: We analyzed 681 patient scans from 3 sites which underwent routine 18F-FDG PET/CT or PET/MR. BSUVs were determined in the descending aorta using a roughly cylindrical ROI (delineated in the attenuation image and spatially transferred to PET). Minimum ROI volume was 5 mL and a safety margin used to avoid partial volume effects. Mean BSUVs, standard deviation (SD), and standard error of the mean (SEM) were computed for subgroups corresponding to 3 scanner calibrations of each site (9 subgroups, n=54–100). Intra- and inter-site variability was computed.

Results: Relative SD (SEM) of BSUV in the subgroups ranged 14.3%–20.7% (2.8%–4.8%). BSUV-differences between intra-site groups were 1.8%–6.4% and mostly (5/6) insignificant. Inter-site BSUV-differences were significant and much larger (12.6%–25.1%, P<0.001).

Conclusions: Due to low inter-site BSUV-variability, group-averages can be computed with high statistical accuracy (<5%) in groups of ~70 patients and used for comparison of relative in-vivo QA. For multi-center trials this method can reveal inter-site differences at the 10% level and might even be used to calibrate image data between sites.

Keywords: PET; quantification; blood SUV; standardization; multicenter; in vivo

Related publications

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27391
Publ.-Id: 27391


The Reality of Scientific Software Development is Agile - Best Practices and Lessons Learned

Juckeland, G.; Frust, T.

The reality of the development of scientific software is often far from the clearly structured, cascading work packages that grant applications require, but rather in the spirit of agile programming: Start from a working minimal prototype, always have running code, work in sprints (typically towards the end of reporting periods). Those characteristics actually match rather well onto the concept of agile programming. This talk will explain the principles of agile software development, the exisiting software tool support using the free-of-charge GitLab Libre Edition as an example, and the implementation of the processes, including team communication, continuous integration and publication of documentation.

  • Lecture (Conference)
    Platform for Advanced Scientific Computing (PASC) Conference, 02.-04.07.2018, Basel, Schweiz

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27390
Publ.-Id: 27390


An Overview of High Energy Density Sciences in HiBEF Project

Huang, L. G.

This talk will give an overview of high energy density (HED) researches in the frame of Helmholtz International Beamline for Extreme Fields (HiBEF) project leading by the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR). The HiBEF user consortium is aiming to contribute and operate different experimental setups at the HED beamline of the European XFEL with worldwide unique ultrashort and extremely bright X-ray flashes.
Three main kinds of HED experiments including relativistic laser solid targets interactions to understand the plasma heating and ionization dynamics, high energy long pulse laser shocked warm dense matters to understand the stellar structures, intense XFEL-matter interactions to understand the effect of crystal structure on the rapidly melting and heating process performed by our group at LCLS and SACLA will be reviewed in this talk. All these experiments take advantages of the ultra-short and intense coherent XFEL beam as a probe to achieve nanometer and femtosecond resolutions simultaneously. Furthermore, to design and under the HED experiments, we will also present the theoretical and simulation studies based on the particle-in-cell (PIC) code, atomic collisional- radiative code and density function theory (DFT) code.

Keywords: High Energy Density; HiBEF; XFEL; High Power Laser; High Energy Laser

  • Invited lecture (Conferences)
    The 3rd International symposium series on High Power Laser Science and Engineering, 09.-13.04.2018, Suzhou, China

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27388
Publ.-Id: 27388


Activation of acceptor levels in Mn implanted Si by pulsed laser annealing

Li, L.; Bürger, D.; Shalimov, A.; Kovacs, G. J.; Schmidt, H.; Zhou, S.

In this paper, we report the magnetic and electrical properties of Mn implanted nearly intrinsic Si wafers after subsecond thermal treatment. Activation of acceptors is realized in pulsed laser annealing (PLA) films with a free hole concentration of 6.29  ×  10^20 cm−3 while the sample annealed by rapid thermal annealing (RTA) shows n-type conductivity with a much smaller free electron concentration in the order of 10^15 cm−3. Ferromagnetism is probed for all films by a SQUID magnetometer at low temperatures. The formation of ferromagnetic MnSi1.7 nanoparticles which was proven in RTA films can be excluded in Mn implanted Si annealed by PLA.

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Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27387
Publ.-Id: 27387


Radiosynthesis and in vivo evaluation of a fluorine-18 labeled pyrazine based radioligand for PET imaging of the adenosine A2B receptor

Lindemann, M.; Hinz, S.; Deuther-Conrad, W.; Namasivayam, V.; Dukic-Stefanovic, S.; Teodoro, R.; Toussaint, M.; Kranz, M.; Juhl, C.; Steinbach, J.; Brust, P.; Müller, C. E.; Wenzel, B.

On the basis of a pyrazine core structure, three new adenosine A2B receptor ligands (7a – 7c) were synthesized containing a 2-fluoropyridine moiety suitable for 18F-labeling. Compound 7a was docked into a homology model of the A2B receptor based on X-ray structures of the related A2A receptor, and its interactions with the adenosine binding site were rationalized. Binding affinity data were determined at the four human adenosine receptor subtypes. Despite a rather low selectivity regarding the A1 receptor, 7a was radiolabeled as the most suitable candidate (Ki(A2B) = 4.24 nM) in order to perform in vivo studies with the aim to estimate fundamental pharmacokinetic characteristics of the compound class. Organ distribution studies and a single PET study demonstrated brain uptake of [18F]7a with a standardized uptake value (SUV) of ≈1 at 5 min post injection followed by a fast wash out. Metabolism studies of [18F]7a in mice revealed the formation of a blood-brain barrier penetrable radiometabolite, which could be structurally identified. The results of this study provide an important basis for the design of new derivatives with improved binding properties and metabolic stability in vivo.

Keywords: adenosine A2B receptor; 18F-labeling; pyrazines; metabolism; micellar chromatography

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Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27386
Publ.-Id: 27386


Determining the ultimate tensile strength of fuel cladding tubes by small punch testing

Simonovski, I.; Baraldi, D.; Holmström, S.; Altstadt, E.; Delville, R.; Bruchhausen, M.

The classical constant deflection rate Small Punch (SP) test is a miniature technique that can provide estimates on the material tensile properties. Linear correlations are usually used for relating the maximum force and displacement at maximum force, recorded during the SP test, to the ultimate tensile strength. Fitting coefficients used in the correlations are calibrated on data from flat SP specimens. SP test requires only a small amount of testing material which represents a clear benefit when irradiated samples have to be tested. Therefore, there is a considerable interest in using SP for testing fuel cladding material properties. In this work we show that the same correlation equations, albeit with adjusted fitting coefficients, can be used to estimate the ultimate tensile strength from tube SP specimens. The calculated fitting coefficients lead to reasonable estimates of the ultimate tensile strength at temperatures of up to 650oC although the coefficients themselves have been computed at the room temperature. The coefficients are more suited for assessing ductile materials as the models used for computing the coefficients do not account for damage/cracking, observed during the SP tests of brittle material. Finally, using the calculated ratios of maximum forces and displacements at maximum forces, one can map the two values of a given curved SP test to the equivalent flat SP values.

Keywords: Small Punch; miniature testing; claddings; FE simulation; ultimate tensile strength

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27385
Publ.-Id: 27385


Effect of ausforming temperature on creep strength of G91 investigated by means of small punch creep tests

Vivas, J.; Capdevila, C.; Altstadt, E.; Houska, M.; Serrano, M.; De-Castro, D.; San-Martin, D.

The stability of the martensitic microstructure in ferritic/martensitic G91 steel at operating temperatures up to 700 ºC might be improved by means of ausforming thermomechanical treatments. The goal sought is to promote the formation of a high number density of MX nanoprecipitates in the martensitic microstructure obtained after a subsequent tempering. This work is focused on the effect of the ausforming temperature. The results show that the lower the ausforming temperature is the higher is the dislocation density obtained in ausformed fresh martensite and the larger the number density of MX carbonitrides after tempering are. Creep strength, evaluated by Small Punch Creep Tests has allowed us to conclude that the best creep behavior was obtained for the steel ausformed at lower the temperature due to the higher pinning force for dislocation motion triggered by the distribution of MX. The creep results obtained on the ausformed samples were compared with those after the conventional heat treatment, showing that the high density of MX carbonitrides after an ausforming thermomechanical treatment is a promising processing to raise the operation temperature of this steel.

Keywords: Creep resistant steels; carbonitrides precipitation; martensite; tempering; small punch creep tests; ausforming

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Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27384
Publ.-Id: 27384


Importance of austenitization temperature and ausforming on creep strength in 9Cr ferritic/martensitic steel

Vivas, J.; Capdevila, C.; Altstadt, E.; Houska, M.; San-Martin, D.

Small Punch Creep technique was used as a screening procedure to evaluate the creep properties of different microstructures developed in a thermomechanical simulator. The goal seek was to generate alternative microstructures in a conventional ferritic-martensitic G91 steel grade which boost thermal stability at temperatures as high as 700ºC. The developed microstructures allow studying the effect of the austenitization temperature optimized by thermodynamic calculations and the ausforming on the creep strength and ductility. The improvement in creep strength recorded was attributable to a higher number density of MX precipitates. By contrast, these microstructures showed an important reduction in creep ductility.

Keywords: Small Punch Creep Tests; MX nanoprecipitates; creep ductility; ausforming; creep resistant steels

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Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27383
Publ.-Id: 27383


The multi-purpose electron accelerator ELBE and its applications, with a focus on THz spectroscopy

Helm, M.

I will introduce the superconducting electron accelerator ELBE (Electron Linear accelerator with high Brilliance and low Emittance) as a source for different types of secondary radiation, including low- (meV) and high- (MeV) energy photons, positrons and neutrons. Being a solid-state spectroscopist, I will then focus on research we have performed using the terahertz free-electron laser FELBE. Here the high peak power can be employed for nonlinear optical experiments in the THz range, whereas the picosecond pulse structure enables time-resolved studies of relaxation processes.

Keywords: electron accelerator; free electron laser; THz spectroscpy

Related publications

  • Lecture (others)
    Kolloquium am Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik (IPP), 19.04.2018, Munich, Germany

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27382
Publ.-Id: 27382


Annual Report 2017 - Institute of Ion Beam Physics and Materials Research

Faßbender, J.; Heera, V.; Helm, M.; Zahn, P.

Related publications

  • Open Access Logo Wissenschaftlich-Technische Berichte / Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf; HZDR-084 2018
    ISSN: 2191-8708, eISSN: 2191-8716

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Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27381
Publ.-Id: 27381


Fabrication of silicon BioCHIPs with charge pattern and surface-near electrostatic forces

Wiesenhuetter, K.; Skorupa, I.; Neubert, M.; Rebohle, L.; Schmidt, H.; Krueger, S.

The selective attachment of molecular or cellular biological elements on flat substrates plays a critical role towards advancements in the field of biotechnology. As majority of the available market for biotech products (e.g. biosensors) is based on the functionalization of substrates, new approaches offering carriers with superior performance i.e. with easy-to-control immobilization of the target bio-elements are desirable. Though, many fabulous developments have been witnessed over the past decades, the controlled entrapment of biomolecules remains an unsolved problem. The frequently utilized routes of chemical-covalent or biological immobilization suffer from limited control and tendency to deactivate. Consequently, new carrier designs with alternative mechanisms of entrapment are of considerable interest. Following this trend, herein we present a promising concept for selective biomolecule assembly onto the bulk-functionalized PolCarr-BioChip. PolCarr-BioChip consists of a doped Si-wafer with an ultra-thin insulating film and a characteristic patter of surface near electrostatic forces (SNEF). The binding of the electrically polarizable bio-element onto PolCarr is purely driven by SNEF, offering an excellent degree of control on the mm-µm-nm scale. By varying the doping conditions, the SNEF can be readily altered. This, in turn, allows for optimization of binding efficacy of the PolCarr-BioChip. Finally, the design of PolCarr can be adjusted to the individual target application (e.g. directed nerve cell growth). The examples of the application-tailored PolCarr templates will be demonstrated in the presentation. We believe the unique features of the PolCarr-BioChip make it a promising alternative to the challenges faced by variety of state-of-the-art biotech products.

Keywords: BioChip; Silicon; Ion Implantation; Surface-Near-Electrostatic-Forces; Biomolecules assembly

Related publications

  • Invited lecture (Conferences)
    Jahrestagung der BIOMEDIZINISCHEN TECHNIK und Dreiländertagung der MEDIZINISCHEN PHYSIK, 10.-13.09.2017, Dresden, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27380
Publ.-Id: 27380


Fabrication of silicon BioCHIPs with charge pattern and surface-near electrostatic forces

Wiesenhuetter, K.; Skorupa, I.; Neubert, M.; Rebohle, L.; Schmidt, H.

The selective attachment of molecular or cellular biological elements on flat substrates plays a critical role towards advancements in the field of biotechnology. As majority of the available market for biotech products (e.g. biosensors) is based on the functionalization of substrates, new approaches offering carriers with superior performance i.e. with easy-to-control immobilization of the target bio-elements are desirable. Though, many fabulous developments have been witnessed over the past decades, the controlled entrapment of biomolecules remains an unsolved problem. The frequently utilized routes of chemical-covalent or biological immobilization suffer from limited control and tendency to deactivate. Consequently, new carrier designs with alternative mechanisms of entrapment are of considerable interest. Following this trend, herein we present a promising concept for selective biomolecule assembly onto the bulk-functionalized PolCarr-BioChip. PolCarr-BioChip consists of a doped Si-wafer with an ultra-thin insulating film and a characteristic patter of surface near electrostatic forces (SNEF). The binding of the electrically polarizable bio-element onto PolCarr is purely driven by SNEF, offering an excellent degree of control on the mm-µm-nm scale. By varying the doping conditions, the SNEF can be readily altered. This, in turn, allows for optimization of binding efficacy of the PolCarr-BioChip. Finally, the design of PolCarr can be adjusted to the individual target application (e.g. directed nerve cell growth). The examples of the application-tailored PolCarr templates will be demonstrated in the presentation. We believe the unique features of the PolCarr-BioChip make it a promising alternative to the challenges faced by variety of state-of-the-art biotech products.

Keywords: BioChip; Silicon; Ion Implantation; Surface-Near-Electrostatic-Forces; Biomolecules assembly

Related publications

  • Invited lecture (Conferences)
    12th Silicon Saxony Day, 20.06.2017, Dresden, Germany

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27379
Publ.-Id: 27379


PolCarr® - smart carrier solutions for effective immobilization of biomaterials 

Wiesenhuetter, K.; Skorupa, I.; Neubert, M.; Rebohle, L.; Schmidt, H.

The selective attachment of molecular or cellular biological elements on flat substrates plays a critical role towards advancements in the field of biotechnology. As majority of the available market for biotech products (e.g. biosensors) is based on the functionalization of substrates, new approaches offering carriers with superior performance i.e. with easy-to-control immobilization of the target bio-elements are desirable. Though, many fabulous developments have been witnessed over the past decades, the controlled entrapment of biomolecules remains an unsolved problem. The frequently utilized routes of chemical-covalent or biological immobilization suffer from limited control and tendency to deactivate. Consequently, new carrier designs with alternative mechanisms of entrapment are of considerable interest. Following this trend, herein we present a promising concept for selective biomolecule assembly onto the bulk-functionalized PolCarr substrate. PolCarr consists of a doped Si-wafer with an ultra-thin insulating film and a characteristic patter of surface near electrostatic forces (SNEF). The binding of the electrically polarizable bio-element onto PolCarr is purely driven by SNEF, offering an excellent degree of control on the mm-µm-nm scale. By varying the doping conditions, the SNEF can be readily altered. This, in turn, allows for optimization of binding efficacy of the PolCarr substrate. Finally, the design of PolCarr can be adjusted to the individual target application (e.g. directed nerve cell growth). The examples of the application-tailored PolCarr templates will be demonstrated in the presentation. We believe the unique features of the PolCarr carrier make it a promising alternative to the challenges faced by variety of state-of-the-art biotech products.

Keywords: Carriers; Silicon; Biochips; Surface-Near-Electrostatic-Forces; Bioelements Immobilization; Biotechnology. Life Science

Related publications

  • Invited lecture (Conferences)
    Thermo Fisher Scientific Innovation Day Europe, 11.05.2017, Darmstadt, Germany

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27378
Publ.-Id: 27378


PolCarr® - intelligente Trägerlösungen für eine effektive Immobilisierung von Biomaterialien

Wiesenhuetter, K.; Skorupa, I.; Neubert, M.; Rebohle, L.; Schmidt, H.

Der PolCarr-BioChip besteht aus Silizium mit implantiertem Ladungsmuster und ermöglicht eine kontrollierte Anhaftung von elektrisch polarisierbaren Biomaterialien. Die Anhaftung wird durch oberflächennahe, elektrostatische Kräfte (SNEF) ermöglicht. Die SNEF über PolCarr-BioChips sind unabhängig von den Umgebungsbedingungen und auch stabil während Sterilisation, Schockgefrieren und Inkubation.

Keywords: BioChip; oberflächennahe; elektrostatische Kräfte; Silizium; Anhaftung von Biomaterialien

Related publications

  • Invited lecture (Conferences)
    Science Match: Future Technologies, 26.01.2017, Dresden, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27377
Publ.-Id: 27377


Relaxation oscillations of Marangoni convection at curved interfaces and drops

Schwarzenberger, K.; Eckert, K.; Mokbel, M.; Aland, S.

Mass transfer of surface-active substances across fluidic interfaces is frequently accompanied by Marangoni instability [1]. Marangoni convection can show a temporal periodicity in the form of relaxation oscillations due to subsequent consumption and regeneration of its driving force. Contrary to the complex behavior of strong surfactants or reactive mass transfer, a simple two-phase-system consisting of paraffin oil and water is employed in our study. Due to mass transfer of isopropanol as a weak surfactant, concentration gradients and, by implication, density gradients are produced in-situ.
We have first studied single small droplets, placed in the concentration gradient, by means of a combination of experiments and simulations. The experiments are conducted in a Hele-Shaw experiment in which the droplets are visualized by shadowgraphy [2]. The 2D numerical simulations are based on a diffusiveinterface approach and assume a linear concentration and density gradient. We show that the single droplets perform about hundred periods of regular ROs over almost one hour. By analyzing their characteristics, the underlying mechanism can be attributed to the interaction between the mixing by Marangoni convection and the restoring effects of diffusion and buoyant convection on the driving concentration gradients. In the next step, ensembles of droplet comprising droplet pairs as well as linear or circular chains of droplets are investigated. If the spatial distance between the droplets in within the propagation depth of the relaxation oscillations, we observe an excitation of the relaxation oscillation from one droplet to its neighbor [3]. As a result, neighboring droplets are forced to oscillate with the same frequency. On arranging the droplets in chains, an efficient transmission of the relaxation oscillation can be achieved.
References
[1] K. Eckert, T. K¨ollner, K. Schwarzenberger, T. Boeck, Transport Processes at Fluidic Interfaces, Eds: D. Bothe, A. Reusken, Springer (2017).
[2] Schwarzenberger, S Aland, H Domnick, S Odenbach, K Eckert, Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects 481, 633-643 (2015).
[3] M. Mokbel, K. Schwarzenberger, K. Eckert, S. Aland (2017), in preparation.

  • Lecture (Conference)
    Dynamics Days, 07.06.2017, Szeged, Ungarn

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27376
Publ.-Id: 27376


Site-specific modification of antibody fragments by combining chemoenzymatic bioconjugation and click chemistry

Zarschler, K.; Singh, G.; Schlein, E.; Pufe, J.; Comba, P.; Pietzsch, J.; Bachmann, M.; Stephan, H.

Introduction
A wealth of preclinical experiments has clearly demonstrated that site-specific protein modification results in a more homogenous product population with defined and tunable properties compared to traditional bioconjugation techniques (1, 2). This is of particular importance for antibodies and their fragments as random conjugation strategies can compromise their functionality and interfere with or abolish their immunoreactivity (3). That specifically applies to small-sized antibody formats such as single chain variable fragments and single-domain antibody-fragments due to their compact structure and limited number of available functional reactive residues outside the antigen-binding site (4-6). Here, we describe a versatile two-step approach for site-specific introduction of bifunctional radiometal-chelating agents into antibody-derived fragments for the generation of highly defined radioimmunotracers.

Methods
The first step of this approach uses enzyme-mediated bioconjugation for regioselective incorporation of an azide-containing linker into an antibody fragment. The second step of this modular approach involves the modification of the azide-tagged antibody fragment with dibenzocyclooctyne (DBCO)-containing fluorescent dyes or DBCO-modified bispidine via Cu-free strain-promoted alkyne-azide cycloaddition.

Results
In an exemplary way, we demonstrate the versatility of this two-step approach by the site-specific incorporation of fluorescent dyes or radiometal chelators for fluorescence or positron emission tomographic imaging at physiological conditions. In vitro binding studies on different human cancer cell lines using dye- or 64Cu-labeled antibody fragments showed high specificity, co-localization and a receptor-mediated cellular uptake of the EGFR-specific probes. Noteworthy, we did not observe any detrimental effect to the functionality of the antibody fragments.

Discussion and Conclusion
The site-specific insertion of a bioorthogonal handle into the targeting moiety allows the subsequent convenient and straightforward incorporation of a variety of complementary probes. In addition, the heterogeneity of the conjugate population is substantially reduced as the conjugation site is defined and maximally one probe is attached per antibody fragment.

References
1. Agarwal P, Bertozzi CR. Site-specific antibody-drug conjugates: the nexus of bioorthogonal chemistry, protein engineering, and drug development. Bioconjug Chem. 2015;26(2):176-92.
2. Sletten EM, Bertozzi CR. Bioorthogonal chemistry: fishing for selectivity in a sea of functionality. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2009;48(38):6974-98.
3. Schumacher D, Hackenberger CP, Leonhardt H, Helma J. Current Status: Site-Specific Antibody Drug Conjugates. J Clin Immunol. 2016;36 Suppl 1:100-7.
4. Meyer JP, Adumeau P, Lewis JS, Zeglis BM. Click Chemistry and Radiochemistry: The First 10 Years. Bioconjug Chem. 2016;27(12):2791-807.
5. Massa S, Xavier C, Muyldermans S, Devoogdt N. Emerging site-specific bioconjugation strategies for radioimmunotracer development. Expert Opin Drug Deliv. 2016;13(8):1149-63.
6. Schumacher D, Helma J, Schneider AFL, Leonhardt H, Hackenberger CPR. Nanobodies: Chemical Functionalization Strategies and Intracellular Applications. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2018;57(9):2314-33.

  • Lecture (Conference)
    Annual congress of the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM'18), 13.-17.10.2018, Düsseldorf, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27375
Publ.-Id: 27375


Biochemical effects of Eu3+ and Cm3+ on eukaryotic cell metabolism – a case study

Raff, J.; Drobot, B.; Sachs, S.; Schmidt, M.; Moll, H.; Jessat, J.; Mochizuki, Y.; Brulfert, F.; Falke, S.; Komeiji, Y.; Betzel, C.; Tsushima, S.; Stumpf, T.

Trivalent lanthanides and actinides (Ln3+/Ac3+) are mostly non-essential metal ions and, in case of trivalent actinides, also not naturally occurring elements. Nonetheless, both lanthanides and actinides can be found in significant quantities in our environment. Trivalent lanthanides have a geogenic origin and get further into the environment during mining, processing and subsequent disposal caused by their intensive use for modern high-tech products. In contrast, trivalent actinides can be unintentionally released by for example the failure of nuclear power plants or during their long-term disposal. Even though they are typically non-essential elements their chemical similarity to calcium (Ca) justifies a detailed investigation of their physiological relevance to organisms and in particular regarding to their interference with the Ca metabolism. In literature an accumulation of lanthanides and actinides in organisms is reported as a function of concentration. Thus, specific or nonspecific transport of these elements in cells can be expected. Possible pathways are via the Na-Ca antiporter, bio-ligand mediated endocytosis or via ionophores. Furthermore, a metal induced permeabilization is described in literature. At least some of these processes can lead to accumulation of these lanthanides or actinides in the food chain.
To study the interaction of lanthanides with Brassica napus on a cellular level, callus and suspension cells were exposed to Eu3+. Besides the kinetics of the bio-association, the amount of associated Eu3+ and its effect on cell growth and viability was determined. Time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy (TRLFS) was used as direct speciation technique to determine the Eu3+ species on callus cells and cell compartments after the cell fractionation. The latter showed that 95 % of the Eu3+ can be found on large cell fragments, e.g. the cell membrane, whereas 5 % can be found in the cytoplasm and the residual plasma and intracellular membranes.
Not only the uptake routes for these elements are unknown but also the molecular mechanism of toxicity is not yet fully understood. An interference with metal ion channels, transporters and/or an interaction with other proteins is possible. In this study calmodulin (CaM) was used as Ca-binding protein relevant for all eukaryotes and as protein with a well-established crystal structure. As such, CaM plays a key role in the Ca metabolism and interacts with more than 350 cellular targets. Combining enzymology, calorimetry, spectroscopy and computational modeling allowed a structural and mechanistic understanding of the effects of Eu3+ and Cm3+ cations on the CaM protein structure and function. The analyses proved that Eu3+ binds CaM with high affinity and displaces Ca2+. Additional experiments demonstrated that the latter applies also for Cm3+. In addition, the stronger binding and different chemical environment of Eu3+/Cm3+ leads to structural distortion and disorder of CaM, which is associated with a reduced enzymatic activity of CaM.

Keywords: lanthanides; actinides; metal interaction; eukaryotes

  • Lecture (Conference)
    11th International Biometals Symposium (BioMetals 2018), 15.-19.07.2018, Ottawa, Canada
  • Poster
    11th International Biometals Symposium (BioMetals 2018), 15.-19.07.2018, Ottawa, Canada

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27374
Publ.-Id: 27374


Agile Software Development using GitLab and GitLab CI

Juckeland, G.; Frust, T.

This talk presents how the GitLab Community Edition installation at HZDR is used to map components of agile programming and also motivates why most scientific programming is agile.

  • Lecture (Conference)
    SEI-Tagung 2018, 16.-18.04.2018, Dresden, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27373
Publ.-Id: 27373


Compositional analysis in the HIM

Klingner, N.; Heller, R.; Hlawacek, G.; von Borany, J.; Serralta, E.; Facsko, S.

The helium ion microscope is well known for its imaging with spot sizes below 0.5 nm, its nano-fabrication capabilities, the small energy spread of less than 1 eV and the extremely high brightness. This is not only possible for conducting but also insulating samples without the need for a conductive coating.
This relatively new device still suffers from the lack of a well integrated material analysis. Past and ongoing activities of various labs for in situ analysis will be summarized. Recently we implemented time-of-flight spectrometry to measure the energy of backscattered helium, the mass of sputtered ions and in future the energy loss of transmitted particles [1].
The focus will be on the technical realization of the significantly improved time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry setup. New results, drawbacks and derive conclusions for the practical use of this promising technique will be presented [2]. Similarities and differences to the also recently developed system using a magnetic sector will be shown [3].
For m/q ≤ 80 u a mass resolution delta m ≤ 0.3 u has been achieved. This is sufficient for many life science applications that rely on the isotope identification of light elements (e.g.: C14, N15). The lateral resolution of 8 nm has been evaluated using the knife edge method and represents a world record for spatially resolved secondary ion mass spectrometry.
[1] N. Klingner, R. Heller, G. Hlawacek, J. von Borany, J.A. Notte, J. Huang, S. Facsko. Ultramicroscopy 162 (2016), pp 91-97
[2] N. Klingner, R. Heller, G. Hlawacek, et al. (2018), in preparation
[3] D. Dowsett, T. Wirtz. Analytical Chemistry, 2017, 89 (17), pp 8957–8965

Related publications

  • Poster
    Ionenstrahlworkshop 2018, 24.04.2018, Darmstadt, Germany

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27372
Publ.-Id: 27372


Recovery of critical and strategic metals from secondary resources: Solvent extraction using the radiotracer technique

O'Toole, N.; Mansel, A.; Kelly, N.; Scharf, C.

Securing economically and ecologically viable sources of certain strategic elements, such as chromium and vanadium, represents an important challenge facing Europe currently.[1] The CHROMIC project seeks to address this issue by developing novel processes for the procurement of such metals from secondary resources. Solvent extraction (SX) is a well-known method which can separate and concentrate such chemical species, and which can provide numerous advantages over more established pyrometallurgical processes for metal purification.[2] This present work aims to construct a solvent extraction process applicable to highly alkaline slag-leach-solutions for the selective recovery of chromium, vanadium, and eventually niobium.
The extractant used in this study is Aliquat 336, an ionic liquid composed of quaternary ammonium salt, dissolved in diluents such as kerosene and methyl isobutyl ketone.[3] Model feed solutions have been created based on the most probable leach solutions for this process, with pH in the range of 12 – 13 and chromate as the major species with an approximate chromium concentration of 1 g/L. Radiolabelling samples with the isotopes chromium-51 (half-life 27.7 days) and vanadium-48 (half-life 16.0 days) allows determination of the metal content in each phase, without the need for any sample preparation of the sort which is required for other analytical techniques such as ICP-OES or ICP-MS. To the best of our knowledge, this work represents the first use of 48V radiotracer individually (and the first use of 51Cr radiotracer in combination) analysis for a solvent extraction study.[4]
Thus far experiments have principally been carried out on single-element solutions containing only one of the desired target elements. In this way we have elucidated the influence of various factors on the efficiency of extraction. The pH of extraction medium plays an important role, not just on the extractability where increasing pH causes a decrease in metal extraction, but also on the stability of the extracted solution. Similarly, the concentration of competing anions such as chloride, sulphate, or nitrate has a strong negative influence on the amount of metal extracted. For example, addition of 0.5 M sodium sulphate will in general reduce extraction of chromium to half the salt-free value. Kinetics of mass transport were determined to be rapid, a significant factor when it comes to scaling up the process from laboratory to industrial scale (mixer-settler unit). Extraction isotherms have been constructed for different possible sets of extraction conditions, and used to guide our continuing research into these systems. Preliminary experiments on mixed-element solutions seem to show coextraction of chromium and vanadium together; in future experiments a suitable scrubbing technique will be employed to attempt to fully separate and purify these elements.
The results obtained thus far indicate the viability of Aliquat 336 as extractant for these key strategic metals from expected leach solutions of industrial slags. The continuation of the project will focus on optimising the process under realistic industrial conditions.
1. Communication from the European commission to the European Parliament on Critical Raw Materials, 13.09.2017
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:52017DC0490&from=EN
2. Weinhardt et al, Industrial and Engineering Chemistry,43(7), 1676-1684, (1951)
3. Wionczyk et al, Hydrometallurgy, 78, 116-128, (2005)
4. Katsuta et al, Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 222(1-2), 45-50, (1997)

Keywords: Solvent Extraction; Circular Economy; Chromium; Vanadium; Aliquat 336

  • Poster
    7th European Chemical Science (EuCheMS) Congress 2018, 26.-30.08.2018, Liverpool, United Kingdom

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27371
Publ.-Id: 27371


Superior electrical conduction of a water repelling 3D interconnected nano-network

Dhal, S.; Das, P.; Rajbhar, M. K.; Chatterjee, S.; Möller, W.; Chatterjee, S.; Ramgir, N.

A three-dimensional (3D) network of interconnected nanowires of functional materials possesses huge potential for device fabrication since it hinders sluggish interfacial charge carrier transport owing to reduced contact resistance. In the present work, the formation of a highly porous 3D interconnected nano-network by Na+ ion irradiation is demonstrated. The mechanism of solid junction formation at very low energy is established using the results obtained from TRI3DYN computer simulation studies. The formation of a 3D interconnected network resulted in a significant improvement in the electrical conduction as compared to that observed for the pristine nanotube mesh. Further, contact angle measurement shows a transition from "superhydrophilic" nature, as observed for pristine nanotubes, to "superhydrophobic" nature for the 3D nano-network. The superhydrophobicity of the 3D nano-network is expected to find application in miniaturized electronic devices, wherein water condensation and related effects such as short-circuits and erroneous signal output can be significantly minimized.

Related publications

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27370
Publ.-Id: 27370


Nanofabrication activities at HZDR

Georgiev, Y. M.

During this talk I will first briefly introduce the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), the Institute of Ion Beam Physics and Materials Research as well as the Ion Beam Centre as a user facility run by the Institute.

Next, I will present some of the equipment available at the nanofabrication facility in Rossendorf (NanoFaRo), in particular electron beam lithography (EBL) systems as well as tools for thin film deposition and reactive ion etching (RIE), paying special attention on their capabilities.

I will then go through the most important nanofabrication projects, both internal and external, run lately at NanoFaRo, including top-down fabrication and electrical characterisation of silicon (Si) nanowire (NW) reconfigurable field effect transistors (RFETs) together with detailed study of nickel (Ni) silicidation of Si NWs; top-down fabrication of a large number of gratings with different periodicity on 2 µm thick Si membranes for laser targets; electrical contacting of randomly distributed nanostructures (bottom-up grown VO2 and hyperdoped Si NWs, DNA origami, flakes of 2D materials, etc.); top-down fabrication of four-terminal Si NW test devices for modulation doping experiments; nanopatterning of polymer brushes by reactive writing with EBL; bevel formation by EBL and RIE for dopant/conductance profiling of thin films and NWs by conductive atomic force microscopy (C-AFM); top-down fabrication of Si NWs hyperdoped with selenium (Se) as well as of plasmonic antennas on Si hyperdoped with tellurium (Te); fabrication and electrical characterisation of FETs on 2D materials, etc. Concluding this part of my talk, I will draw your attention to some highlights of our activities, focussing mostly on processes for high-resolution patterning as well as on high-precision electrical contacting of randomly distributed nanostructures.

Finally, I will discuss possibilities for collaboration between HZDR and UCC/Tyndall in the field of our activities.

Keywords: nanofabrication; electron beam lithography; reactive ion etching; silicon nanowires; reconfigurable field effect transistors; nickel silicidation; silicon gratings; silicon membranes; laser targets; DNA origami; 2D materials; conductive atomic force microscopy; hyper doped silicon nanowires; plasmonic antennas

Related publications

  • Lecture (others)
    Seminar of the School of Chemistry, University College Cork, 22.03.2018, Cork, Ireland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27368
Publ.-Id: 27368


Group IV Semiconductor Nanowires for Sensing and Nanoelectronic Applications

Georgiev, Y. M.

During the last decade, semiconductor nanowires (NWs) have received significant academic and commercial attention due to their attractive electrical and mechanical properties and large surface area to volume ratios. They have a variety of possible applications including nanoelectronics, nanophotonics, photovoltaics, sensorics, etc. Among all semiconductor NWs the ones based on group IV materials have the added value of being the most silicon (Si) compatible. This would allow their relatively easy integration into the existing semiconductor technology platform.

In my talk I will first present the NWs that we are working with. These include top-down fabricated Si and germanium (Ge) NWs having widths down to 6-7 nm as well as bottom-up grown alloyed germanium-tin (Ge1-xSnx) NWs with x = 0.07-0.1, diameters of 50-70 nm and lengths of 1 to 3 µm. In the future we plan to work also with alloyed SiGe and SiGeSn NWs with varying content of the different materials.

I will next discuss the innovative devices that we are targeting, namely junctionless nanowire transistors (JNTs) and reconfigurable field effect transistors (RFETs). In particular, we are interested in Si JNTs for sensing application as well as in Ge and GeSn JNTs for digital logic. Concerning RFETs, we are currently working on Si RFETs and commencing activities on Ge RFETs. In the future we are planning to work also on GeSn RFETs.

Finally, I will pay a special attention to a novel device that we recently invented: group IV heterostructure band-to-band tunnel FET (TFET). We are planning to fabricate this device with a scalable and fully CMOS compatible process and expect it to demonstrate high Ion together with low Ioff and hence steep subthreshold slopes.

Keywords: semiconductor nanowires; nanoelectronics; silicon; germanium; germanium-tin; junctionless nanowire transistors; reconfigurable field effect transistors; heterostructure band-to-band tunnel field effect transistors

Related publications

  • Lecture (others)
    Science Meets Industry, 08.03.2018, Dresden, Germany

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27367
Publ.-Id: 27367


Formation of a new type of {U38} cluster based on a controlled release of water via esterification reaction

Martin, N. P.; Volkringer, C.; Henry, N.; Trivelli, X.; Stoclet, G.; Ikeda-Ohno, A.; Loiseau, T.

A new strategy for the synthesis of large poly-oxo cluster bearing 38 tetravalent uranium atoms {U38} has been developed by controlling the water release from the esterification reaction between carboxylic acid and alcohol. The molecular entity [U38O56Cl40(H2O)2(ipa)20]·(ipa)x (ipa = isopropanol) was crystallized from the solvothermal reaction of the mixture of UCl4 and benzoic acid in isopropanol at temperature ranging from 70 to 130°C. Its crystal structure reveals the molecular assembly of the UO2 fluorite-like inner core {U14} with oxo groups bridging the uranium centers. The {U14} core is further surrounded by six tetrameric sub-units of {U4} to form the {U38} cluster. Its surface is decorated by either bridging- and terminal chloride anions or terminal isopropanol molecules. Another synthesis using the same reactant mixture at a room temperature resulted in the crystallization of discrete dinuclear complex [U2Cl4(bz)4(ipa)4] (bz = benzoate), in which each uranium center is coordinated by two chlorine atoms, four oxygen atoms from carboxylate groups and two additional oxygen atoms from isopropanol. The slow production of water released from the esterification of isopropanol allows the formation of the giant cluster with oxo bridges linking the uranium atoms at a temperature above 70°C, whereas no such oxo groups are present in the dinuclear complex formed at a room temperature. The kinetic of {U38} crystallization as well as the ester formation are analyzed and discussed. SAXS experiments indicate that the {U38} species are not dominant in the supernatant, but hexanuclear entities which are closely related to the [U6O8] type are formed.

Keywords: Actinides; uranium; cluster; polymer; coordination; solid-state chemistry; structure characterisation; solution speciation

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27366
Publ.-Id: 27366


Towards the development of chitosan nanoparticles for plutonium pulmonary decorporation

Léost, L.; Roques, J.; van de Meeren, A.; Vincent, L.; Sbirrazzuoli, N.; Hennig, C.; Rossberg, A.; Aupiais, J.; Pagnotta, S.; Den Auwer, C.; Di Giorgio, C.

Since the 1940s, great amounts of Plutonium (Pu) have been produced for both military and civil purposes. Until now, the standard therapy for decorporation following inhalation has been the intravenous injection of diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid ligand (Ca-DTPA form). This method offers a strong complexing constant for Pu(iv) but has poor chemical specificity, therefore its efficacy is limited to actinides present in the blood. Consequently, there is no decorporation treatment currently available which efficiently removes the intracellular Pu(iv) trapped in the pulmonary macrophages. Our research shows that a nanoparticle approach could be of particular interest due to large contact area and ability to target the retention compartments of the lungs. In this study, we have focused on the inhalation process involving forms of Pu(iv) with poor solubility. We explored the design of biocompatible nanoparticles able to target the macrophages in the lung alveoli and to chelate the forms of Pu(iv) with poor solubility. Nanoparticle formation was achieved through an ionic cross-linking concept using a polycationic polymer and an anionic chelate linker. We chose N-trimethyl chitosan, for its biocompatibility, as the polycationic polymer base of the nanoparticle and the phosphonic analogue of DTPA, diethylenetriamine-pentamethylenephosphonic acid (DTPMP) as the anionic chelating linker in forming NPs TMC-DTPMP. The synthesis and physico-chemical characterization of these NPs are presented. Secondly, the complexation mechanisms of TMC-DTPMP NPs with Thorium (Th(iv)) are discussed in terms of efficiency and structure. The Extended X-Ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) of the TMC-DTPMP complex with Th(iv) as well as Pu(iv) are defined and completed with DFT calculations to further delineate the plutonium coordination sphere after complexation. Finally, preliminary cytotoxicity tests onto macrophages were assayed.

Keywords: Th(IV); Pu(IV); TMC-DTPMP NPs; EXAFS; DFT

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Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27365
Publ.-Id: 27365


DNA-encircled lipid bilayers

Iric, K.; Subramanian, M.; Oertel, J.; Agarwal, N. P.; Matthies, M.; Periole, X.; Sakmar, T. P.; Huber, T.; Fahmy, K.; Schmidt, T.-L.

Lipid bilayers and lipid-associated proteins play crucial roles in biology. As in vivo studies and manipulation are inherently difficult, membrane-mimetic systems are useful for the investigation of lipidic phases, lipid-protein interactions, membrane protein function and membrane structure in vitro. In this work, we describe a route to leverage the programmability of DNA nanotechnology and create DNA-encircled bilayers (DEBs). DEBs are made of multiple copies of an alkylated oligonucleotide hybridized to a single-stranded minicircle, in which up to two alkyl chains per helical turn point to the inside of the toroidal DNA ring. When phospholipids are added, a bilayer is observed to self-assemble within the ring such that the alkyl chains of the oligonucleotides stabilize the hydrophobic rim of the bilayer to
prevent formation of vesicles and support thermotropic lipid phase transitions. The DEBs are completely free of protein and can be synthesized from commercially available components using routine equipment. The diameter of DEBs can be varied in a predictable manner. The well-established toolbox from structural DNA nanotechnology, will ultimately enable the rational design of DEBs so that their size, shape or functionalization can be adapted to the specific needs of biophysical investigations of lipidic phases and the properties of membrane proteins embedded into DEB nanoparticle bilayers.

Keywords: lipid; membrane protein; DNA; nanotechnology

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27364
Publ.-Id: 27364


DNA-encircled lipid bilayer: a nano-scaled membrane-mimetic system

Iric, K.; Subramanian, M.; Oertel, J.; Agarwal, N. P.; Matthies, M.; Periole, X.; Sakmar, T. P.; Huber, T.; Fahmy, K.; Schmidt, T.-L.

Lipid bilayers and lipid-associated proteins play a crucial role in biology. Since studies and manipulation in vivo are inherently challenging, several in vitro membrane-mimetic systems have been developed to enable the study of lipidic phases, lipid-protein interactions and membrane protein function. Controlling the size and shape or introducing functional elements in a programmable way is, however, difficult to achieve with common systems based on polymers, peptides or membrane scaffolding proteins. In this work we describe a route leveraging the unique programmability of DNA nanotechnology to create DNA-encircled bilayers (DEBs) as a novel nano-scaled membrane-mimetic. For this, alkylated oligonucleotides are hybridized to a single-stranded minicircle (ssMC) such that all alkyl chains point to the inside stabilizing the lipid bilayer. Atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and coarse grain molecular dynamics (CGMD) simulations confirm the formation of discoidal lipid bilayer structures. Fluorescence spectroscopy was used to monitor lipid phase transitions and revealed head group-dependent lipid-DNA interactions at the bilayer rim. The DEB technology described herein provides unprecedented control of size, shape, stability and functionalization of engineered membrane nanoparticles and will become a valuable tool for biophysical investigation of lipid phases and lipid-associated proteins and complexes.

Keywords: Nanotechnology; membrane protein; DNA; lipids

  • Poster
    FNANO2018, 15th Annual Conference Foundations of Nanoscience, 16.-19.04.2018, Durham, USA

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27363
Publ.-Id: 27363


Bentonite – a natural source for sulfate-reducing bacteria

Matschiavelli, N.; Kluge, S.; Cherkouk, A.

In order to analyze the potential influence of natural occuring microorganisms within the bentonite on the properties of the bentonite barrier, we set up microcosm-experiments. Two different Bavarian bentonites (a natural and an industrial one) were supplied with an anaerobic, synthetic Opalinus-clay pore water solution under an N2/CO2-atmosphere and were incubated for one year at 30 °C and 60 °C. To some set ups organics (acetate or lactate) or H2 were supplemented. During the incubation time samples were analyzed for several biogeochemical parameters and the evolution of microbial community.
Our results clearly demonstrate, that natural occuring microbes affect geochemical parameters. Set ups containing the industrial bentonite supplemented with lactate or H2 show the most striking effects. The respective batches were dominated (up to 81 %) by Desulfosporosinus spp. after 6 months – spore-forming, strictly anaerobic, sulfate-reducing organisms, able to survive under very harsh conditions. Concomitantly, an increase of ferrous iron and a simoultaneous decrease of ferric iron was observed as well as a decrease in sulfate – alterations that could effect different properties of and reactions within the barrier system of an HLW.

Keywords: Bentonite; sulfate-reduction; Desulfosporosinus spp

  • Lecture (Conference)
    MIND-Project Annual Meeting 2018, 07.-09.05.2018, Lausanne, Switzerland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27362
Publ.-Id: 27362


Analyzing the large scale flow in a precessing cylinder and its ability for dynamo action

Gundrum, T.; Vogt, T.; Gao, Y.; Giesecke, A.; Stefani, F.; Eckert, S.

We carried out ultrasonic Doppler measurements of a precession driven flow in a cylindrical cavity. The experimental studies were conducted in a downscaled water experiment to analyze the possibility of hydrodynamic dynamo action in a planned large-scale liquid sodium experiment. The azimuthal and axial mode decomposition close to the outer rim reveals a significant peak for the axi-symmetric flow component with axial wavenumber k=2 in a narrow region of the precession ratio. At this peak, dynamo action is predicted for the DRESDYN sodium experiment. Specifically we analyze the ultrasonic measurement data which were transferred via slip rings from the vessel rotating about two axes. By post-processing the azimuthal dependence of the flow was extracted from the ultrasonic data. The utilized workflow eliminates the slight variations over time of the operating conditions and of the frame rate of the data acquisition. The downscaled water experiment was operated in a wide range from Re=10000 to 1.6·106, showing a very good agreement with direct numerical simulations at their upper limit of Re=10000.

Keywords: Magnetohydrodynamics; Geophysics; Precession; hydrodynamic Dynamo; UDV

  • Contribution to proceedings
    11th International Symposium on Ultrasonic Doppler Methods for Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Engineering ( ISUD 11 ), 05.-7.9.2018, Berlin, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27361
Publ.-Id: 27361


Shibboleth-Authenticator for Invenio

Frust, T.

The shibboleth-authenticator module for Invenio provides web browser single sign-on via the SAML protocol. It is based on the python3-saml module and supports the usage of multiple identity providers at the same time.

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Downloads

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27360
Publ.-Id: 27360


Interaction of Uranium(VI) with α‑Amylase and Its Implication for Enzyme Activity

Barkleit, A.; Hennig, C.; Ikeda-Ohno, A.

Because of its chemo- and radiotoxicity, the incorporation of uranium into human body via ingestion potentially poses a
serious health risk. When ingested, the gastrointestinal fluids are the primary media to interact with uranium, eventually influencing and even determining its biochemical behavior in the gastrointestinal tract and thereafter. The chemical interactions between uranium and the components of gastrointestinal fluids are, however, poorly understood to date. In this study, the complexation of uranium(VI) (as the uranyl ion, UO22+) with the protein α-amylase, one of the major enzymes in saliva and pancreatic juices, was investigated over a wide range of pH or uranium/α-amylase concentrations covering physiological conditions. Macroscopic sorption experiments suggested a strong and fast complexation of UO22+ to α-amylase between pH 5 and 7. Potentiometric titration was employed to determine the complex stability constants for the relevant UO22+ α-amylase complexes, which is crucial for reliable thermochemical modeling to assess the potential health risk of uranium. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy revealed that α-amylase is interacting with UO22+ primarily via its carboxylate groups presumably from the aspartic acid and glutamic acid side chains. The effect of UO22+ on the enzyme activity was also investigated to understand the potential implication of uranium for the in vivo functions of the digestive fluids, indicating that the presence of uranium inhibits the enzyme activity. This inhibitory effect can be, however, suppressed by an excess of calcium.

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Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27359
Publ.-Id: 27359


Monitoring scanner calibration using the image derived arterial blood SUV in whole-body FDG-PET

Maus, J.; Hofheinz, F.; Apostolova, I.; Kreissl, M. C.; Kotzerke, J.; van den Hoff, J.

Background:

The current de facto standard for quantification of tumor metabolism in oncological whole-body PET is the standardized uptake value (SUV) approach. SUV determination requires accurate scanner calibration. Residual inaccuracies of the calibration lead to biased SUV values. Especially, this can adversely affect multicenter trials where it is difficult to ensure reliable cross-calibration across participating sites. The goal of the present work was the evaluation of a new method for monitoring scanner calibration utilizing the image-derived arterial blood SUV (BSUV) averaged over a sufficiently large number of whole-body FDG-PET investigations.

Data of 681 patients from three sites which underwent routine 18F-FDG PET/CT or PET/MR were retrospectively analyzed. BSUV was determined in the descending aorta using a three-dimensional ROI concentric to the aorta’s centerline. The ROI was delineated in the CT or MRI images and transferred to the PET images. A minimum ROI volume of 5 mL and a concentric safety margin to the aortic wall was observed. Mean BSUV, standard deviation (SD), and standard error of the mean (SE) were computed for three groups of patients at each site, investigated 2 years apart, respectively, with group sizes between 53 and 100 patients. Differences of mean BSUV between the individual groups and sites were determined.

Results: SD (SE) of BSUV in the different groups ranged from 14.3 to 20.7% (1.7 to 2.8%). Differences of mean BSUV between intra-site groups were small (1.1–6.3%). Only one out of nine of these differences reached statistical significance. Inter-site differences were distinctly larger (12.6–25.1%) and highly significant (P<0.001).

Conclusions: Image-based determination of the group-averaged blood SUV in modestly large groups of whole-body FDG-PET investigations is a viable approach for ensuring consistent scanner calibration over time and across different sites. We propose this approach as a quality control and cross-calibration tool augmenting established phantom-based procedures.

Keywords: PET; Quantification; Blood SUV; Standardization; Multicenter; In vivo

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Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27358
Publ.-Id: 27358


Massive Parallel Computing on GPU Architectures

Frust, T.

Graphics processing units (GPU) have evolved to massively parallel processors for general-purpose computing during the last couple of years. They are now available in small and energy-efficient embedded systems, too. This talk gives a brief overview about GPU computing and introduces the NVIDIA Jetson platform as an example for a GPU powered embedded system.

Keywords: GPU; Embedded systems; Parallel computing

  • Lecture (others)
    TOMOCON Kick-Off Meeting, 18.04.2018, Technische Universtität Dresden, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27357
Publ.-Id: 27357


Research Data Management

Frust, T.

The importance of research data and research data management (RDM) in the research lifecycle is growing. This talk provides an overview about data management in research projects. The goal is to make research data FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Retrievable) by starting early with a Data Management Plan (DMP) and making research data available in appropriate data repositories.

Keywords: Data Management; Data Management Plan; FAIR; RODARE; Zenodo

  • Lecture (others)
    TOMOCON Kick-Off Meeting, 18.04.2018, Technische Universität Dresden, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27356
Publ.-Id: 27356


Cyclopentadienyl Tricarbonyl 99mTc/Re Complexes Containing Spirocyclic Piperidine Moiety as Nonselective Sigma Receptor Ligands for Tumor Imaging and Therapy

Wang, X.; He, Y.; Deuther-Conrad, W.; Ye, J.; Chen, J.; Steinbach, J.; Brust, P.; Jia, H.

We have designed and synthesized a series of cyclopentadienyl tricarbonyl 99mTc/Re complexes containing a spirocyclic piperidine moiety as sigma receptor ligands. Rhenium compound 3a (4-(3H-spiro(2-benzofuran-1,4’-piperidin)-1’-yl)butylcarbonylcyclopentadienyl tricarbonyl rhenium) showed high affinity for both sigma-1 (Ki = 13.8 ± 0.7 nM) and sigma-2 (Ki = 15.1 ± 3.5 nM) receptors. In the MTT assay, 3a displayed significant and comparable antiproliferative activity in DU145, MCF7 and MCF7/Adr tumor cells to siramesine, indicating 3a is an agonist of sigma-2 receptors and a potential antitumor agent. The corresponding radiolabeled compound [99mTc]3b was prepared via double-ligand-transfer reaction from the corresponding ferrocene precursor with a radiochemical yield of 48% and a radiochemical purity of more than 99%. Studies of the cellular accumulation of [99mTc]3b in C6 and DU145 tumor cells indicated that the total binding and the intracellular association is notably high.
Incubation with haloperidol significantly reduced the radiotracer accumulation dose-dependently. The biodistribution of [99mTc]3b in nude mice bearing DU145 tumor xenografts showed high tumor uptake (4.27%ID/g) and high tumor-to-blood (12) and tumor-to-muscle (5) ratios at 2 h postinjection. Pretreatment with haloperidol resulted in a remarkable reduction of tumor accumulation, indicating the specific binding of [99mTc]3b to sigma receptors in the tumor. These findings highlight the further evaluation of cyclopentadienyl tricarbonyl 99mTc/Re complexes and prospectively the 188Re-labeled analogs containing a spirocyclic piperidine moiety as sigma ligands for tumor imaging and therapy.

  • Lecture (Conference)
    TERACHEM2018, 26.-29.09.2018, Bressanone, Italien

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27355
Publ.-Id: 27355


Liquid metal batteries - activities at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden - Rossendorf

Weier, T.; Horstmann, G. M.; Landgraf, S.; Nimtz, M.; Stefani, F.; Weber, N.

The talk will provide an overview of the liquid metal battery (LMB) related activities at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden - Rossendorf (HZDR) with a focus on magnetohydrodynamic aspects of future large scale LMBs. High current densities in the range of 4 up to 130 kA/m-2, as typical for LMBs, together with cells of large cross section will result in substantial currents accompanied by considerable magnetic fields. Thus electromagnetically driven flows and instabilities should be of concern for large enough installations, especially when the thin electrolyte layers necessitated by the limited open circuit voltages are taken into account. Beneficial effects of mild electromagnetically driven flows are to be expected for the cathodes were mixing should improve cell performance.

Keywords: liquid metal batteries; magnetohydrodynamics; Tayler instability; sloshing

  • Lecture (others)
    Seminar, 12.04.2018, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27354
Publ.-Id: 27354


Liquid metal batteries - stationary storage for fluctuating renewable energy sources

Weier, T.; Horstmann, G. M.; Landgraf, S.; Nimtz, M.; Stefani, F.; Weber, N.

Liquid metal batteries are introduced as a potential means to future economic large-scale electricity storage indispensable for energy systems with high penetration of fluctuating sources. The talk will concentrate on the role of electrodynamics and fluid mechanics in the design of large single cells, discussing a few instability mechanisms that should be taken into account.

Keywords: liquid metal batteries; magnetohydrodynamics; instabilities

  • Invited lecture (Conferences)
    Battery Application and Energy Storage, 11.04.2018, London, United Kingdom

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27353
Publ.-Id: 27353


Layer-by-Layer assembly of heparin and peptide-polyethylene glycol conjugates to form hybrid nanothin films of biomatrices

Thomas, A. K.; Wieduwild, R.; Zimmermann, R.; Lin, W.; Friedrichs, J.; Bickle, M.; Fahmy, K.; Werner, C.; Zhang, Y.

We investigated the utility of a heparin/peptide-polyethylene glycol conjugate system to build Layer-by-Layer (LbL) structures, to assemble tailored multilayer-biomatrices for cell culture. The LbL assembly balances the advantages of polyelectrolyte systems and protein-based systems. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells showed distinct responses to: the film thickness and structure; the presence, density and spatial arrangement of a cell adhesion ligand within the nanothin film; and the pretreatment of the film with morphogens. The LbL technique presents a versatile tool for modifying cell culture substrates with defined and diverse biochemical and structural features, for investigating cell-material interactions.

Keywords: extracellular matrix; layer-by-layer; nano thin; heparin; biomimetic; Fourier transform infrared

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27352
Publ.-Id: 27352


Comparison of flow measurements in a cold liquid metal model for continuous casting of steel carried out by an arrangement of individual US transducers and a linear US array

Schurmann, D.; Franke, S.; Willers, B.; Eckert, S.

Flow measurements by means of the Ultrasound Doppler Velocimetry (UDV) have been carried out in a cold liquid metal mockup experiment to model the continuous casting process of steel. The setup was realized in the mini-LIMMCAST facility and represents a 1:3 scale model of a typical industrial bloom caster. An arrangement of ten individual ultrasonic sensors attached to a commercial system and an academic UDV system with linear ultrasound array was mounted along the mold to capture the velocity distribution near the meniscus and the submerged entry nozzle (SEN). The results obtained by the two measurement systems are compared and show the superiority of the academic system due to its higher spatial resolution.

Keywords: Model Experiments in Liquid Metal; Continuous Casting; UDV

  • Contribution to proceedings
    11th International Symposium on Ultrasonic Doppler Methods for Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Engineering (ISUD 11), 05.-07.09.2018, Berlin, Deutschland
  • Lecture (Conference)
    11th International Symposium on Ultrasonic Doppler Methods for Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Engineering (ISUD 11), 05.-07.09.2018, Berlin, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27351
Publ.-Id: 27351


ICA cleanup for improved SNR in arterial spin labeling perfusion MRI

Hao, X.; Petr, J.; Nederveen, A. J.; Wood, J.; Wang, D. J. J.; Mutsaerts, H. J. M. M.; Jann, K.

Arterial spin labeling (ASL) is a non-invasive MRI modality that can provide insight in brain hemodynamics. One main limiting factor of ASL is its relatively low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). New technical developments like 3D readouts and background suppression have improved SNR [1] and additional post processing steps including noise regression methods can further improve temporal SNR (tSNR) [2]. We hypothesize that Independent Component Analysis (ICA) should provide separation of physiological noise from signal and thus improving SNR and cerebral blood flow (CBF) quantification as has been shown for BOLD fMRI. Therefore, in this study, we evaluated the use of ICA to separate perfusion signal from noise in ASL data.

  • Contribution to proceedings
    Joint Annual Meeting ISMRM-ESMRMB 2018, 16.06.2018, Paris, France, 2330
  • Poster
    Joint Annual Meeting ISMRM-ESMRMB 2018, 16.06.2018, Paris, France

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27350
Publ.-Id: 27350


Late-delayed perfusion decrease following radiochemotherapy in glioblastoma patients

Petr, J.; Mutsaerts, H. J. M. M.; Platzek, I.; Keil, V. C.; Hofheinz, F.; Asllani, I.; Seidlitz, A.; Petrova, M.; Troost, E. G. C.; Krause, M.; van den Hoff, J.

Temozolomide-based radiochemotherapy (RCT) is a treatment standard for glioblastoma patients. However, RCT is associated with risks of neurocognitive decline. Perfusion is a possible early marker of tissue damage and has been shown to correlate with cognitive changes in many diseases. Perfusion decrease at 3 to 6 months after RT was recently reported in glioblastoma patients. However, it remains unclear whether the decrease is reversible and thus possibly a precursor of the late-delayed cognitive changes. In this study, we have measured perfusion changes up to 18 months following RCT. No further progress of perfusion deficits was found indicating that the early perfusion decrease is predictive of late perfusion decrease and might thus be connected with cognitive decline.

  • Contribution to proceedings
    Joint Annual Meeting ISMRM-ESMRMB 2018, 16.06.2018, Paris, France, 4863
  • Poster
    Joint Annual Meeting ISMRM-ESMRMB 2018, 16.06.2018, Paris, France

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-27349
Publ.-Id: 27349


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