Publications Repository - Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf

How learning from the mistakes of the past can contribute to building a strong global rare earth elements supply chain

One of the major issues that the Rare Earth Elements Mining Industry has to deal with is the legislation vacuum that exists in many countries around the world. Among these, are countries which have long history and tradition in mining. In many cases the lack of direct legislation for REE mine management as well as for other potentially polluting industries can be a barrier to sustainable development. Moreover, the case of lax legislation in China has led to environmental pollution problems and extended smuggling of rare earth elements.
This paper looks into the current regulatory status on the mining of REEs, identifies the loopholes and suggests some elements for a new global legislation framework for sustainable development in the REE mining industry. The setting of this regulatory framework will be in line with the present and future challenges of the rare earths market as well as with the policy strategies that are defined internationally. The aim of such a legislative framework will be to strengthen the global rare earth elements supply chain, appease social concerns and ensure the preservation and conservation of the environment.

The continuously growing demand for rare earth elements (REEs), in combination with the crisis of 2009 and the price spike of 2011, has initiated a treasure hunt for rare earth deposits all over the world in recent years. Since then, commodity prices have declined and are now quite stable, yet the world is still dependent on China’s dominance of the market and its export policies. Exploration is unremitting and numerous resources of potential interest have already been revealed in many countries; however, proceeding to mining operations is not that simple, especially when it comes to the exploitation of rare earth deposits. Evaluating the feasibility of a mining project is always a unique, sensitive and rather complex process that depends on multiple criteria. This paper focuses on clarifying the present and future global situation in the development of respective deposits and on identifying rare earth-specific criteria that influence the overall feasibility assessments of any potential (especially underground) mining projects. Environmental impacts, legislation issues and the presence of radioactive pollutants are some of the notable boundary conditions that govern rare earth mining operations and need to be taken into consideration. Furthermore, the balance problem between the supply and demand of the different REEs can determine decisively whether a deposit of specific REEs is economically exploitable. For this reason, evaluations are made regarding the future strategies to be enacted in order for the rest of the world to detach itself from this situation. The ultimate goal of these evaluations is for them to be incorporated in an overall assessment tool for rare earth underground mining procedures that will be implemented in real case studies to determine their sustainability.

Rare earth elements (REE) have turned from an inconspicuous group of raw materials to critical commodities in the last decade. The insatiable and continuously growing demand for rare earths combined with their small and opaque market has resulted in a global exploration boom that has led to the delineation of extensive resources on every continent. Nevertheless, the special boundary conditions that govern the REE industry require second thoughts and careful evaluations when it comes to the potential exploitation of such resources. Past mistakes, with respect to environmental impacts and uncertain investments, have resulted in an overall uncertainty whether the mining and beneficiation of rare earth elements can be a viable industry in a free market context. This paper attempts to record the erroneous practices of the past and use them as guidelines to strengthen the global REE supply-chain. Moreover, the paper focuses on the assessments that need to be made in order to optimize the mining process and reinforce the growth prospects of the market. An overall assessment tool for the mineability of rare earth deposits is also used to consolidate these evaluations and answer the question, if REE mining can be sustainable.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:

The aim was to investigate whether the use of metformin during concurrent chemoradiotherapy (cCRT) for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) improved treatment outcome.
MATERIAL AND METHODS:

A total of 682 patients were included in this retrospective cohort study (59 metformin users, 623 control patients). All received cCRT in one of three participating radiation oncology departments in the Netherlands between January 2008 and January 2013. Primary endpoint was locoregional recurrence free survival (LRFS), secondary endpoints were overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS) and distant metastasis free survival (DMFS).
RESULTS:

No significant differences in LRFS or OS were found. Metformin use was associated with an improved DMFS (74% versus 53% at 2years; p=0.01) and PFS (58% versus 37% at 2years and a median PFS of 41months versus 15months; p=0.01). In a multivariate cox-regression analysis, the use of metformin was a statistically significant independent variable for DMFS and PFS (p=0.02 and 0.03).
CONCLUSIONS:

Metformin use during cCRT is associated with an improved DMFS and PFS for locally advanced NSCLC patients, suggesting that metformin may be a valuable treatment addition in these patients. Evidently, our results merit to be verified in a prospective trial.

Radiotherapy is a mainstay of curative prostate cancer treatment, but risks of recurrence after treatment remain significant in locally advanced disease. Given that tumor relapse can be attributed to a population of cancer stem cells (CSC) that survives radiotherapy, analysis of this cell population might illuminate tactics to personalize treatment. However, this direction remains challenging given the plastic nature of prostate cancers following treatment. We show here that irradiating prostate cancer cells stimulates a durable upregulation of stem cell markers that epigenetically reprogram these cells. In both tumorigenic and radioresistant cell populations, a phenotypic switch occurred during a course of radiotherapy that was associated with stable genetic and epigenetic changes. Specifically, we found that irradiation triggered histone H3 methylation at the promoter of the CSC marker aldehyde dehydrogenase 1A1 (ALDH1A1), stimulating its gene transcription. Inhibiting this methylation event triggered apoptosis, promoted radiosensitization, and hindered tumorigenicity of radioresistant prostate cancer cells. Overall, our results suggest that epigenetic therapies may restore the cytotoxic effects of irradiation in radioresistant CSC populations. Cancer Res; 76(9); 2637-51. ©2016 AACR.

Hirnmetastasen treten bei der Mehrheit der Patienten mit metastasiertem Melanom auf und sind die häufigste Todesursache. Bis vor Kurzem war die Lokaltherapie die einzige Option für die Kontrolle von Hirnmetastasen. Inzwischen stehen wirksame systemische Therapieoptionen zur Verfügung. Bei Verdacht auf Hirnmetastasen sind eine Staging-Diagnostik mit Craniale Magnetresonanztomographie (cMRT) sowie eine neurologische Untersuchung indiziert. Für die Therapieplanung sollten prognostische Faktoren wie Anzahl und Symptomatik der zerebralen Metastasen, der LDH- und S100-Wert im Serum, die extrazerebrale Metastasierung sowie der ECOG (Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group)-Status einbezogen werden. Die Therapieentscheidung bzw. -durchführung sollte interdisziplinär bzw. multimodal erfolgen. Bei singulären Hirnmetastasen sind die neurochirurgische Resektion und die stereotaktische Radiatio etabliert. Das Behandlungsspektrum hat sich durch die Neuzulassung von wirksamen Immuntherapien (CTLA-4- und PD-1-Antikörper) sowie zielgerichteten Therapien (BRAF-und MEK-Inhibitoren) erheblich erweitert. Die palliative Ganzhirnradiatio wird bei multiplen symptomatischen Hirnmetastasen eingesetzt, wobei bisher kein signifikanter Vorteil für das Gesamtüberleben gezeigt werden konnte. Bei erhöhtem intrakraniellem Druck und epileptischen Anfällen sind Kortikosteroide und Antikonvulsiva indiziert. In aktuellen klinischen Studien werden für Melanompatienten mit Hirnmetastasen neue Therapieoptionen wie PD-1-Antikörper, Ipilimumab plus Nivolumab, BRAF-Inhibitoren plus MEK-Inhibitoren sowie stereotaktische Radiatio in Kombination mit Immuntherapie bzw. zielgerichteter Therapie untersucht.

BACKGROUND:

Resistance to radiotherapy continues to be a limiting factor in the treatment of cancer including head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Simultaneous targeting of β1 integrin and EGFR was shown to have a higher radiosensitizing potential than mono-targeting in the majority of tested HNSCC cancer models. As tumor-initiating cells (TIC) are thought to play a key role for therapy resistance and recurrence and can be enriched in sphere forming conditions, this study investigated the efficacy of β1 integrin/EGFR targeting without and in combination with X-ray irradiation on the behavior of sphere-forming cells (SFC).
METHODS:

HNSCC cell lines (UTSCC15, UTSCC5, Cal33, SAS) were injected subcutaneously into nude mice for tumor up-take and plated for primary and secondary sphere formation under non-adhesive conditions which is thought to reflect the enrichment of SFC and their self-renewal capacity, respectively. Treatment was accomplished by inhibitory antibodies for β1 integrin (AIIB2) and EGFR (Cetuximab) as well as X-ray irradiation (2 - 6 Gy single doses). Further, flow cytometry for TIC marker expression and cell cycling as well as Western blotting for DNA repair protein expression and phosphorylation were employed.
RESULTS:

We found higher primary and secondary sphere forming capacity of SAS cells relative to other HNSCC cell lines, which was in line with the tumor up-take rates of SAS versus UTSCC15 cells. AIIB2 and Cetuximab administration had minor cytotoxic and no radiosensitizing effects on SFC. Intriguingly, secondary SAS spheres, representing the fraction of surviving SFC upon passaging, showed greatly enhanced radiosensitivity compared to primary spheres. Intriguingly, neither AIIB2 nor Cetuximab significantly altered basal sphere forming capacity and radiosensitivity. While an increased accumulation of G0/G1 phase cells was observable in secondary SAS spheres, DNA double strand break repair indicated no difference on the basis of significantly enhanced ATM and Chk2 dephosphorylation upon irradiation.
CONCLUSIONS:

In the HNSCC model, sphere-forming conditions select for cells, which are unsusceptible to both anti-β1 integrin and anti-EGFR inhibitory antibodies. With regard to primary and secondary sphere formation, our data suggest that both of these SFC fractions express distinct survival strategies independent from β1 integrin and EGFR and that future work is warranted to better understand SFC survival and enrichment before and after treatment to untangle the underlying mechanisms for identifying novel, druggable cancer targets in SFC.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:

Hypoxia renders tumors resistant to radiotherapy. However, the paucity of sensitive and reliable methods for detection of tumor hypoxia limits the translation of novel therapy strategies targeting this well-known resistance factor. We sought to investigate the ability of three previously discovered transcriptomics based hypoxia signatures to identify hypoxic tumors and consequently discriminate between patients with poor- vs. good prognosis.
MATERIAL AND METHODS:

Three different hypoxia gene signatures developed by Toustrup et al., Eustace et al. and Lendahl et al. were evaluated in an independent cohort consisting of 302 patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Clinical data as well as genome-wide RNA-sequencing based gene expression data were retrieved from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Clustering and statistical analysis were performed using Statistical Utilities for Microarray and Omics data (SUMO) software package.
RESULTS:

The 15 gene hypoxia signature developed by Toustrup et al. as well as the 30 gene signature by Lendahl et al. successfully discriminated between HNSCC patients with poor vs. good prognosis. The 26 gene signature developed by Eustace et al. was prognostic in HNSCC patients treated with radiotherapy. The best prognostic value was achieved when a consensus cohort of patients was assigned, i.e., low- or high- degree of tumor hypoxia was found, by all three signatures. Interestingly, the number of signature genes could be successfully reduced to the only common gene across all three signatures, i.e., P4HA1, encoding prolyl-4-hydroxylase, alpha polypeptide I.
CONCLUSIONS:

This is the first independent proof for the feasibility of hypoxia gene expression signatures as a prognostic tool in HNSCC patients.

AIM:

Improve the prognostic prediction of clinical variables for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), by selecting from blood-biomarkers, non-invasively describing hypoxia, inflammation and tumour load.
METHODS:

Model development and validation included 182 and 181 inoperable stage I-IIIB NSCLC patients treated radically with radiotherapy (55.2%) or chemo-radiotherapy (44.8%). Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO), selected from blood-biomarkers related to hypoxia [osteopontin (OPN) and carbonic anhydrase IX (CA-IX)], inflammation [interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-8, and C-reactive protein (CRP)], and tumour load [carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), and cytokeratin fragment 21-1 (Cyfra 21-1)]. Sequent model extension selected from alpha-2-macroglobulin (α2M), serum interleukin-2 receptor (sIL2r), toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Discrimination was reported by concordance-index.
RESULTS:

OPN and Cyfra 21-1 (hazard ratios of 3.3 and 1.7) significantly improved a clinical model comprising gender, World Health Organization performance-status, forced expiratory volume in 1s, number of positive lymph node stations, and gross tumour volume, from a concordance-index of 0.66 to 0.70 (validation=0.62 and 0.66). Extension of the validated model yielded a concordance-index of 0.67, including α2M, sIL2r and VEGF (hazard ratios of 4.6, 3.1, and 1.4).
CONCLUSION:

Improvement of a clinical model including hypoxia and tumour load blood-biomarkers was validated. New immunological markers were associated with overall survival. Data and models can be found at www.cancerdata.org (http://dx.doi.org/10.17195/candat.2016.04.1) and www.predictcancer.org.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a hematologic malignancy of the myeloid line with high prevalence in older patients. As complete eradication of metastatic cancer cells is often not achieved by standard therapies, alternative treatment modalities are urgently needed.
In recent years, bispecific antibodies (bsAbs) and chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) emerged as promising candidates for an antigen-specific cancer immunotherapy. Both bsAbs and CARs are able to redirect T cells for efficient tumor cell lysis. Nevertheless, the development of a novel TAA specific bsAb or a CAR is a long lasting process. Therefore, we recently introduced a novel antibody-based modular platform (UniTARG) that can be rapidly and easily adapted for redirection of T cells to any TAA in both a bsAb or CAR related manner. The modular UniTARG system distributes the effector arm (the anti-CD3 domain or CAR) and the anti-TAA binding domain to two separate molecules: (I) an exchangeable target module (TM) comprising an anti-TAA binding moiety and a short peptide epitope (E5B9), and (II) a universal effector unit. The effector systems represent either a bsAb with specificity for CD3 and a peptide epitope (E5B9) termed UniMAB or a CAR directed to the E5B9 epitope (UniCAR). Thus, TMs can form a complex with the respective effector system that facilitates the cross-linkage of tumor and T cells similar to conventional bsAbs or CARs. For redirection of T cells to any kind of TAA only the binding moiety of the TM has to be adapted what saves costs and time. To increase tumor specificity and to reduce the risk of tumor escape variants, the modular UniTARG system further offers the possibility to apply simultaneously different monospecific or even bispecific TMs recognizing two TAAs.

For proof of concept of a dual targeting using the UniTARG system we selected as TAA on AML blasts the molecules CD33 and CD123. They represent promising target antigens as they are overexpressed on both rapidly proliferating terminal AML blasts and leukemic stem cells which might be responsible for disease relapse after initial chemotherapy. Thus, we generated an anti-CD123 TM and anti-CD33 TM that can be applied within the modular system for single-targeting or that can be combined for dual-targeting of AML blasts. By fusion of the anti-CD123 and anti-CD33 domains via the E5B9 epitope a bispecific TM was further constructed. As revealed by cytotoxicity assays with CD33+CD123+ AML cell lines, the novel mono- and bispecific TMs can be easily applied to the modular systems to trigger highly potent tumor cell lysis at low E:T ratios and picomolar Ab concentrations. By using the dual-targeting approach we can show that lysis of CD123+CD33+ AML blasts can be considerably improved in comparison to the mono-specific strategy.

Overall, due to the ease and cost-effectiveness of development the UniTARG platform technology represents a promising tool in the field of both bsAbs and CARs with the advantage of simultaneous or consecutive dual or even multispecific targeting. This approach might additionally improve anti-tumor activity by increasing tumor specificity and diminishing off-target effects.

The last decade has seen an increasing use of three-dimensional CFD codes to predict steady state and transient flows in nuclear reactors because a number of important phenomena such as pressurized thermal shocks, coolant mixing, and thermal striping cannot be predicted by traditional one-dimensional system codes with the required accuracy and spatial resolution.
The nuclear industry now also recognizes that CFD codes have reached the desired level of maturity (at least for single-phase applications) for them to be used as part of the Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) design process, and it is the objective the research and development teams to assess the current capabilities of such codes in this regard, and contribute to the technology advance in respect to their verification and validation. CFD is already well-established in addressing certain safety issues in NPPs, as reported and discussed at various international workshops. The development, verification and validation of CFD codes in respect to NPP design necessitates further work on the complex physical modelling processes involved, and on the development of efficient numerical schemes needed to solve the basic equations. In parallel, it remains an overriding necessity to benchmark the performance of the CFD codes, and for this experimental databases need to be established, first for separate-effect tests but especially for full-size integral tests.
In order to validate the CFD Code ANSYS CFX for reactor safety relevant flow phenomena it is essential to use the UPTF experiments, since they are full scale tests. All other separate effect test rigs and test facilities like ROCOM (Höhne, 2000) are scaled. Scaling parameters of flow conditions are one of the still open topics for the use of CFD codes in nuclear reactor safety. Three UPTF tests were selected and post-test calculation were performed. The major focus was analyzing the qualitative flow behavior.

Salt rock is one potential host rock formation for the final disposal of radioactive waste in Germany. Next to geochemical and physical parameters in salt rock indigenous microorganisms have to be taken into account for the safety performance of the deep geological repository. The halophilic archaeon Halobacterium noricense DSM-15987 is indigenous in salt rock and was originally isolated from a salt mine in Austria [1]. This extreme halophilic archaeon was used to study its interactions with uranium. ICP-MS analyses of the supernatant were performed to document the bioassociation kinetic of uranium to cells of Hbt. noricense, which showed a so far unknown behavior. More detailed information about the formed complexes were gained by using different spectroscopic and microscopic methods. All experiments with Hbt. noricense have to be performed at 3 M NaCl which leads to a limited selection of methods or makes their application complicated. Hence, different approaches to generate samples for electron microscopy have been performed and will be the focus of the talk. For example preparation steps like fixation as well as washing steps to get rid of the salt have been varied to obtain SEM and TEM samples which are unaffected by the preparation steps. The used electron microscopic methods have been a useful tool for various reasons. First, by using SEM coupled with EDX a localization of uranium was possible. Second, changes in cell agglomeration as well as uranium bioassociation over time were visible supporting the so far unknown multi-stage bioassociation process. In combination with spectroscopic tools like infrared spectroscopy and laser fluorescence spectroscopy the applied microscopic methods were essential for a better understanding of the bioassociation process of uranium to cells of the halophilic archaeon.

OpenACC aims at providing a relatively easy and straightforward way to describe parallelism for exploitation on platforms with hardware accelerators. It is by design also an approach for porting legacy HPC applications to this novel architecture. Especially such legacy applications, but also newly developed applications that require more resources than a single node can offer, use MPI for inter-node communication and coarse work distribution, thus, becoming so-called hybrid applications. It is also possible to combine OpenACC with OpenMP on the host side to utilize all resources of a compute node or to even use all three levels of parallelism concurrently. Tuning application performance for one parallelization paradigm is challenging, adding the second or third level of parallelism introduces a whole new layer of potential performance problems from the interaction of all parallelization paradigms. It is, however, possible to extend the previously mentioned profile-guided development to also cover this usage scenario.
Profiling tools from compiler or accelerator vendors are usually limited to the scheme the product address, e.g. only OpenACC or CUDA/OpenCL activity. Almost all vendor tools cannot record MPI activity leaving the programmer in the dark how well hybrid applications perform over all used levels of parallelism. Research based performance tools cover this gap. HPCtoolkit, Tau, and Score-P are the most prominent ones that also offer hardware accelerator support. Out of the three Score-P is the one that covers the most parallelization paradigms, can record the most concurrent activity and, as a result, can provide the most complete performance picture even for very complex applications. Therefore, Score-P will be used as the example performance recording tool for this chapter. The other tools can provide similar results. Vampir will be use for visualizing the performance data since it is by far the most capable trace visualizer and profile generator.

The emergent field of flexible magneto-electronics is reviewed with respect to its application potential for e-mobility, personal appliances and medicine.

The ELBE center of high power radiation sources at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf combines a superconducting CW linear accelerator with Terawatt- and Petawatt- level laser sources. Key experiments rely on precise timing and synchronization between the different radiation pulses. An online single shot monitoring system has been set up in order to measure the timing between the high-power Ti:Sa laser DRACO and electron bunches generated by the conventional SRF accelerator. This turnkey timing system is suitable for timing control of Thomson scattering x-ray sources and external injection of electron bunches into a laser wakefield accelerator. It uses a broadband RF pickup to acquire a probe of the particle bunch’s electric field and modulates a fraction of the high power laser pulse in a fast electro-optical modulator. The amplitude modulation gives a direct measure for the timing between both beams. Using this setup a resolution of <200 fs RMS has been demonstrated. The contribution will show the prototype, first measurement results and will discuss future modification in order to improve the resolution of the system.

We report on an experimental study of the charge transport through tunnel gaps formed by adjustable gold electrodes immersed into different solvents which are commonly used in the field of molecular electronics (ethanol, toluene, mesitylene, 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene, isopropanol, toluene/tetrahydrofuran mixtures) for the study of single-molecule contacts of functional molecules. We present measurements of the conductance as a function of gap width, conductance histograms as well as current-voltage characteristics of narrow gaps and discuss them in terms of the Simmons model, which is the standard model for describing transport via tunnel barriers, and the resonant single-level model, often applied to single-molecule junctions. One of our conclusions is that stable junctions may form from solvents as well and that both conductance-distance traces and current-voltage characteristics have to be studied to distinguish between contacts of solvent molecules and of molecules under study.

Radiolabeling is a strong tool for the research of nanoparticle fate in the environment as it allows sensitive detection at very low concentrations. We introduced radiolabels into commerical TiO2, CeO2 and multi-wall carbon nanotubes using various cyclotron and non-cyclotron techniques. The so-labelled nanoparticles can be used in fate studies of nanoparticle beahavior in waste water treatment and their possible uptake into plants.

The ELBE center for high power radiation sources is operating a superconducting RF accelerator in CW mode. Since 2012 solid state amplifiers are used to drive the accelerating structures at ELBE. New experiments which are in preparation need a better temporal resolution and therefore a higher beam stability. Since 2013 a test series has been performed to evaluate a MicroTCA.4-based digital LLRF (low level RF) system foreseen to replace the analogue controllers. The contribution gives an overview of the setup, reports first performance results and discusses challenges and experience gained during commissioning.

The disruption of ionic and H-bond interactions between the cytosolic ends of transmembrane helices TM3 and TM6 of class-A (rhodopsin-like) G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) is a hallmark for their activation by chemical or physical stimuli. In the photoreceptor rhodopsin, this is accompanied by proton uptake at Glu134 in the class-conserved E(D)RY motif. Studies on TM3 model peptides proposed a crucial role of the lipid bilayer in linking protonation to stabilization of an active state-like conformation. However, the molecular details of this linkage could not be resolved and have been addressed here by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations on TM3 model peptides in a DOPC bilayer. We show that protonation of the conserved glutamic acid alters its side chain rotamer preferences and stabilizes the C-terminal helical structure. Both factors contribute to the rise of the side chain pKa (> 6) and to reduced polarity around the TM3 C-terminus as confirmed by fluorescence spectroscopy. Helix stabilization requires the protonated carboxyl group; unexpectedly, this stabilization could not be evoked with an amide in MD simulations. Additionally, time-resolved FTIR spectroscopy of TM3 model peptides revealed a different kinetics for lipid ester carbonyl hydration, suggesting that the carboxyl is linked to more extended H-bond clusters than an amide. Remarkably, this was seen as well in DOPC-reconstituted Glu134- and Gln134-containing opsin mutants and demonstrates that the E(D)RY motif is a hydrated microdomain. 25 The function of the E(D)RY motif as a proton switch is suggested to be based on the reorganization of the H-bond network at the membrane interface.

Flow measurements in hot liquid metals using the ultrasound Doppler method (UDV)
Contactless Inductive Flow Tomography

The Mesoproterozoic Jameson Range intrusion forms part of the Giles Complex, Musgrave Province, Western Australia. It is predominantly mafic in composition comprising olivine-bearing gabbroic lithologies with variable amounts of magnetite and ilmenite. Lithologies containing more than 50 vol% magnetite and ilmenite are classified as magnetitites. The Jameson Range hosts several of these magnetitites forming laterally extensive layers, which can be traced for at least 19 km as continuous magnetic anomalies. Similar occurrences of magnetitites are known from the upper parts of other layered intrusions, such as the Bushveld Complex. In addition, the intrusion hosts several P-rich zones, one of which is at least 59 m in thickness containing 1.0 wt% P2O5. The P-rich zones are not directly associated with the magnetitites, but they mostly occur slightly above them. The mineral chemistry of the Jameson Range cumulates is relatively evolved with olivine compositions ranging from Fo44 to Fo60 and plagioclase compositions varying between An56 and An59. The Mg# (100 × Mg / (Mg + Fe)) of ortho- and clinopyroxene ranges from 60 to 61 and from 70 to 75, respectively. Magnetite compositions are characterised by low TiO2 concentrations varying from 0.39 to 3.04 wt% representing near end-member magnetite with up to 1.2 wt% Cr and 1.3 wt% V, respectively. The basal magnetite layer reaches up to 68.8 wt% Fe2O3(t) and 24.2 wt% TiO2, and it is also markedly enriched in Cu (up to 0.3 wt% Cu), V (up to 1.05 wt% V2O5) and platinum-group elements (PGE) (up to 2 ppm Pt + Pd). Sulphide minerals comprising bornite, chalcopyrite and minor pentlandite occur finely disseminated in the magnetitite and account for the elevated base metal and PGE concentrations. Modelling indicates that the PGE mineralisation was formed at very high R factors of up to 100,000, which is typical for PGE reefs in layered intrusions. Whole rock geochemical and mineralogical data of the magnetite layers and their host rocks further allow for a refinement of current formation models of layered igneous sequences. Several lines of evidence suggest that the magnetite layers formed in response to primarily density-controlled mineral sorting within crystal slurries, although the grain size also affects the sorting process.

We use time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy to study the recombination dynamics in Si-doped GaAsN semiconductor alloys with a nitrogen content up to 0.2%. The PL decay is predominantly monoexponential and exhibits a strong energy dispersion. We find ultra-short decay times on the high-energy side and long decay times on the low-energy side of the photoluminescence spectrum. This asymmetry can be explained by the existence of an additional non-radiative energy transfer channel and is consistent with previous studies on intrinsic GaAsN epilayers. However, the determined maximum decay times of GaAsN:Si are significantly reduced in comparison to undoped GaAsN. The determined excitonic mobility edge energy constantly decreases with increasing N content, in agreement with the two-level band anticrossing model.

Particle therapy is a strongly growing field in cancer therapy. More than 60 treatment centres are currently operating worldwide and the total number will reach more than 90 by 2017(1). The majority of the centres uses protons to treat patients.

With the increasing importance of particle therapy, the development of application-specific monitoring systems has received a significant boost. On the one side, there are the radio-protection questions like the secondary dose to patients or to radio-sensitive equipment. On the other side, there are the methods that intend to verify the correct application of the treatment dose, during or short after the treatment, like prompt-gamma-imaging or -timing, or PET. For both groups of measurements, a good understanding of the secondary radiation field is crucial.

The greatest challenge in determining the secondary radiation field comes from neutrons. The spectra of the neutrons, generated by protons of therapeutic energies, extend far beyond the specification of most commercially available dosimeters. Additionally, the generated neutron fields are spatially non-uniform and in case of passive field formation strongly dependent on the operational setting. Combined with the very limited spatial and spectral resolution of the available neutron detectors, many details of the field cannot be experimentally resolved. Therefore, a dependable measurement of the neutron field requires a detailed simulation of the neutron generation in the treatment system.

The talk gives an overview of the passive proton field formation used at the University Proton Therapy Dresden. The challenges in modelling and measuring the resulting neutron fields are discussed. The current status of the simulation model is presented. The predicted neutron fields are also compared to first experimental measurements with a neutron REM meter and an extended Bonner sphere spectrometer.

(1) Particle Therapy Co-Operative Group (PTCOG), www.ptcog.ch

The present invention is related to silicon nanoparticles, a pharmaceutical composition comprising silicon nanoparticles, a method for synthesis of the silicon nanoparticles and their use for in vivo diagnostics, visualization of drug delivery or staining of cells, biological processes or pathways. The silicon nanoparticles are characterised that they comprise a silicon core of a size of 1 to 10 nm and are terminated with allylamine or poly(allylamine) comprising up to 10 allylamine groups.

The mechanisms for the reduction and uptake of Tc by magnetite (Fe3O4) and mackinawite (FeS) are investigated using XAS techniques (XANES, EXAFS), in combination with thermodynamic calculations of the Tc/Fe systems and accurate characterization of the solution properties (pHm, pe, [Tc]). Batch sorption experiments were performed in the presence of freshly prepared magnetite and mackinawite in 0.1 M NaCl solutions with varying [Tc(VII)]0 (2·10–5 – 2·10–4 M) and loading of Tc (400–900 ppm ). XANES confirms the complete reduction of Tc(VII) to Tc(IV) in all investigated systems, as predicted by experimental (pHm + pe) measurements and thermodynamic calculations. Two Tc pure endmember species are identified by EXAFS in the magnetite system, corresponding to fully incorporated Tc in the magnetite structure and (likely) to a Tc-Tc dimeric structure with triple-bonding to the magnetite {111} faces. The latter endmember is favoured at higher [Tc], whereas incorporation prevails at low [Tc] and less alkaline pH conditions. The key role of pH in the uptake mechanism is interpreted in terms of magnetite solubility, with higher [Fe] and greater recrystallization rates occurring with decreasing pH values. A TcS2-like phase prevails in all investigated mackinawite systems, although the contribution of up to  20% of TcO2xH2O(s) (likely as surface precipitate) is observed for the highest investigated loadings (900 ppm). These results provide key inputs for an accurate mechanistic interpretation of the Tc uptake by magnetite and mackinawite, so far controversially discussed in the literature, and represent a very relevant contribution in the context of nuclear waste disposal.

Phosphorene, a single sheet of black phosphorus, is an elemental two-dimensional material with unique properties and potential applications in semiconductor technology. While few-layer flakes of the material have been characterized using transmission electron microscopy, very little is known about its response to electron irradiation, which may be particularly important in the context of top-down engineering of phosphorus nanostructures using a focused electron beam. Here, using first-principles simulations, we study the production of defects in a single phosphorene sheet under impacts of energetic electrons. By employing the McKinley–Feshbach formalism and accounting for the thermal motion of atoms, we assess the cross section for atom displacement as a function of electron energy. We further investigate the ener- getics and dynamics of point defects and the stability of ribbons and edges under an electron beam. Finally, we show that P atomic chains should be surprisingly stable, and their atomic structure is not linear giving rise to the absence of a gap in the electronic spectrum.

Die Kupferschiefervorkommen Mitteleuropas stellen eine anspruchsvolle lokale Ressource von Basismetallen wie Kupfer, aber auch strategischen Elementen wie Gallium oder Molybdän dar. Um diese Wertstoffe aus dem Kupferschiefer umweltfreundlich und effizient zu gewinnen, werden biotechnologische Laugungsverfahren untersucht. Die klassische Biolaugung, die säureliebende Mikroorganismen verwendet, stößt beim Kupferschiefer aufgrund hoher Karbonatgehalte von bis zu 18 % (Material aus Polkowice, Polen)an ihre Grenzen, da der optimale mikrobielle pH-Bereich um pH 2 überschritten wird. Daher werden alternative Verfahren getestet; so beispielsweise die Produktion organischer Säuren wie Glutamin- oder Zitronensäure durch Mikroorganismen. Hier wurden mithilfe von Schimmelpilzen bereits gute Kupferausbeuten aus Material des Kupferschiefertyps erzielt. Allerdings konnte in eigenen Arbeiten gezeigt werden, dass bei der Verwendung organischer Säuren die Laugungseffektivität im neutralen pH-Bereich höher ist als im schwach sauren Milieu. Daher stellt der Beitrag Ergebnisse zur Biolaugung von Kupfer aus Kupferschiefer im neutralen pH-Bereich vor. Dabei werden sowohl geochemische als auch mineralogische Daten präsentiert.

An introduction into automated mineralogy and application on REE is an oral contribution to the Ist Workshop Goiano de Terras Raras in Catalo, Brasil which was oraginzed by the universidad de federal de Goias within the 'fact finding' Mission for a CLIENT II proposal. The workshop itself had ca 300 participants including the German and Brasilian delegations. The presentation is about the analytical facilites at HIF in particular MLA analytics, some technical background on MLA and case studies to demonstrate the application of MLA to specific challenges in ore and processiong product characterisation with focus on REE elements

SEM-based image analysis (aka Automated Mineralogy) has become a standard method not only in mineral processing but also for petrological studies, e.g., for the determination of modal mineralogy, search for rare phases, or for fabric parameters such as grain size and mineral association. A very small aliquot (the surface of a polished epoxy block prepared from a few grams of ground material or the surface of a polished thin section) are used during analysis. All caution is needed to assure that this small aliquot is representative of the sample material to be examined – and that it yields the information of particular interest, e.g., the abundance and microfabric relations of rare phases such as PGEs or Au.
SEM-based image analysis is performed on surfaces, i.e. observations are obtained on two-dimensional surfaces, whereas the relevant attributes all related to the properties of three dimensional mineral grains/particles/rock volumes. For grain mounts, the appearance of a grain on the analyzed surface is controlled by the behavior of the grain during sample preparation and depends on grain size, shape and density of phases. Cutting effects usually cause an underestimation of grain size for isotropic grains, whereas phases forming grains with a shape preferred orientation (e.g. mica) may be over- or underestimated depending on the plane chosen for analysis. This causes also bias in modal mineralogy, grain size and shape or mineral association and liberation. At best, measurements can be precise but not accurate with reference to the entire sample.
To evaluate these effects, a systematic study was performed on grain mounts of a mineralogically rather simple greisen from the Erzgebirge (Germany), mainly constituted by zinnwaldite mica, topaz and quartz, i.e minerals with different density, mineral grain size and shape. Eight values of the ratio solid load/resin and analyses of two cutting planes (xy and xz) were performed, having 16 MLA measurements. Apparent modal mineralogy compositions were statistically compared, using bootstrapping techniques to estimate their uncertainty. Results showed a significant and constant difference of the topaz proportion between xy and xz measurements, as well as a significant systematic reduction in the ratio zinnwaldite/quartz with increasing solid load/resin ratio on xy measurements, a bias absent from xz measurements. In conclusion, sample preparation biases can be reduced by measuring on transverse planes (xz) or reducing the amount of resin added to the sample. For a first time the error in analyzing modal mineralogy was quantified. Other biases remain, like e.g. stereological distortion in estimating 3D quantities from 2D measurements. Such challenges are left for further research.

Within the framework of the German reactor safety research, generic experimental investigations were carried out aiming at thermal-hydraulic consequences of physicochemical mechanisms, caused by dissolution of zinc in boric acid during corrosion processes at hot-dip galvanized surfaces of containment internals at lower coolant temperatures and the subsequent precipitation of solid zinc borates in PWR core regions of higher temperature. This constellation can occur during sump recirculation operation of ECCS after LOCA. Hot-dip galvanized components, which are installed inside a PWR containment, may act as zinc sources. Getting in contact with boric acid coolant, zinc at their surfaces is released into coolant in form of ions due to corrosion processes. As a long-term behavior resp. over a time period of several days, metal layers of zinc and zinc alloys can dissolve extensively.
First fundamental studies at laboratory scale were done at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR). Their experimental results were picked up for the definition of boundary conditions for experiments at semi-technical scale at the University of Applied Sciences Zittau/Görlitz (HSZG). Electrical heating rods with zircaloy cladding tubes have been used as fuel rod simulators.
As near-plant core components, a 3x3 configuration of heating rods (HRC) and a shortened, partially heatable PWR fuel assembly dummy were applied into cooling circuits. The HRC module include segments of spacers for a suitable representation of a heating channel geometry. Formations of different solid zinc compounds (mainly borates) were observed at heatable zircaloy surfaces and characterized in detail for heating-up to several coolant temperatures. As a strict consequence of their proven influence on heat removal and coolant flow behavior in the PWR core, preventive water-chemical methods were defined and tested.

Introduction:

The phosphorylation of histone H2AX (γH2AX) is one of the early events in the DNA repair pathways for DNA double strand break repair following radiation exposure. In xenografted human head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (hHNSCC), we found a significant correlation of initial and residual γH2AX foci after in vivo irradiation with local tumor control (Menegakis et al. 2011, Koch et al. 2013). Based on tumor biopsies, the γH2AX foci assay was translated to a clinically relevant ex vivo irradiation setting. We could show that the slopes of the dose response curves of ex vivo irradiated patient-derived and xenograft-derived tumor biopsies allow for discrimination of radio-resistant and radio-sensitive tumor types (Menegakis et al. 2015).

Methods & Results:

Ongoing work is focused on in vivo irradiated hHNSCC xenograft tumors as well as ex vivo irradiated HNSCC patient-derived and xenograft-derived biopsies. Studies with experimental tumors are dedicated to technical developments and biological characteristics of γH2AX foci. Here, a comparison of manually counted and automatically evaluated γH2AX foci from in vivo and ex vivo irradiated xenograft samples will be presented. A particular focus in manually evaluated samples was set to the exclusion criteria for pan-nuclear stained cells and the corresponding interpretation bias for tumor radio-sensitivity missing apoptotic, necrotic, mitotic and S-phase cells. In clinical routine, very little biological material is available for experimental diagnostic purposes. Therefore, the inter- and intra-tumoral heterogeneities of experimental hHNSCC tumors were evaluated and statistically modeled to allow a logical transfer to the clinical situation.

Conclusion:

Overall, our findings support the clinical relevance of γH2AX foci as potential biomarkers for individual radio-sensitivity and therewith, for personalized cancer treatment. Nonetheless, additional strategies are needed to improve the robustness and process time of the assay.

Acknowledgement:

This work was supported by a grant of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF 02NUK035C).

References:

Menegakis et al., Radiother. Oncol. 100:137–44 (2011)
Koch et al., Radiother. Oncol. 108:434–39 (2013)
Menegakis et al., Radiother. Oncol. 116:473–79 (2015)

The field of nanomedicine offers excellent prospects for the development of new non-invasive strategies for the diagnosis and therapy of cancer. A major advantage of nanomaterials (NMs) is their potential to be used as non-invasive diagnostic tools. By combining multiple modalities into a single probe, higher sensitivity can be achieved, leading to deeper insights into different in vitro and in vivo processes. Despite the significant progress that has been made in the field of NMs-based cancer diagnostics, our overall understanding of their pharmacokinetics (adsorption, uptake, distribution, metabolism and excretion) is still limited. Detailed investigations of the physicochemical properties and physiological behavior of NMs in biological environments are required to be better able to understand, predict and control their biodistribution.

The synthesis of a calixarene-based N₄O₄ donor ligand H₆L, in which two 8-hydroxyquinoline-2-carbaldehyde units are appended via hydrazone-carbonylmethoxy linkages in a 1,3-arrangement to the lower rim of tert-butyl-calix[4]arene, and its coordination properties towards Eu(III) are described. The reaction of H₆L with Eu(NO₃)₃.6H₂O produces a dinuclear complex [Eu₂(H₃L)₂] (4). The Eu(III) ions in 4 are well-separated from each other (d > 8 Å) each being coordinated by two tetradentate hydroxyquinoline-2-carbaldehyde-hydrazone substituents from two triply deprotonated molecules (H₃L)^3- in a dodecahedral geometry. As a consequence there are no exchange interactions between the Eu(III) ions, and the magnetic properties are solely associated with thermal population of excited (⁷F₁-⁷F₆) terms. The spin-orbit coupling constant lambda is 325.2(4) cm^-1. Moreover, the ligand H₆L was found to extract Eu(III) and Tb(III) at pH 7-8 from aqueous solution, as established by radiotracing using the short-lived radionuclides ¹⁶⁰Tb and ¹⁵²Eu.

Die vorliegende Erfindung betrifft ein Verfahren zur Hydrophilisierung von Metalloxid-Nanopartikeln durch eine gezielte Modifizierung der Gitterplätze und die Verwendung dieser, wobei das Verfahren zur Herstellung oberflächenhydrophilisierter Metalloxid-Nanopartikel die folgenden Schritte umfasst:

a. Aktivierung von hydrophoben Metalloxid-Nanopartikel in einem organischen Lösungsmittel, durch Zugabe einer organophilen Base,
b. Zugabe eines aktiven C1-6-Alkans, aufweisend eine Funktionalität,
c. Abtrennung des Niederschlags und Überführung in eine wässrige Lösung,
wobei die kovalente Anbindung in (b) über ein Kohlenstoffatom der C1-6-Alkylgruppe des aktiven C1-6-Alkans an den Nanopartikel-eigenen, die Oberflächengitterplätze der Metalloxid-Nanopartikel besetzenden, Sauerstoff erfolgt.

The goal of nuclear astrophysics is to measure cross-sections of nuclear physics reactions of interest in astrophysics. At stars temperatures, these cross-sections are very low due to the suppression of the Coulomb barrier. Cosmic-ray-induced background can seriously limit the determination of reaction cross-sections at energies relevant to astrophysical processes and experimental setups should be arranged in order to improve the signal-to-noise ratio. Placing experiments in underground sites, however, reduces this background opening the way towards ultra low cross-section determination. LUNA (Laboratory for Underground Nuclear Astrophysics) was pioneer in this sense. Two accelerators were mounted at the INFN National Laboratories of Gran Sasso (LNGS) allowing to study nuclear reactions close to stellar energies. A summary of the relevant technology used, including accelerators, target production and characterisation, and background treatment is given.

Gemäß verschiedenen Ausführungsformen kann ein komplementärer Widerstandsschalter aufweisen: zwei äußere Kontakte (T1, T2 ), zwischen denen zwei piezo- oder ferroelektrische Schichten (11a und 11b) liegen, die durch einen inneren gemeinsamen Kontakt voneinander getrennt sind, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass mindestens ein Bereich der piezo- oder ferroelektrischen Schicht (11a und 11b) mindestens einmal derart modifiziert ist, dass in der piezo- oder ferroelektrischen Schicht (11a und 11b) jeweils zwischen dem inneren Kontakt und dem zugehörigen äußeren Kontakt ein Bereich (11') der Dicke (d ') entsteht, weicher mindestens zusätzlich in einem Bereich (11") der Dicke (d") modifiziert sein kann, wobei a) die äußeren Kontakte Oberflächenkontakte (Sa) und (Sb) und der innere Kontakt ein gemeinsamer zugehöriger Gegenkontakt (O) oder die äußeren Kontakte Gegenkontakte (Oa) und (Ob) und der innere Kontakt ein gemeinsamer zugehöriger Oberflächenkontakt (S) sind, b) die Oberflächenkontakte (S), (Sa) und (Sb) gleichrichtend und die Gegenkontakte (O) bzw. (Oa) und (Ob) nicht-gleichrichtend sind, c) sich die modifizierten Bereiche in der piezo- oder ferroelektrischen Schicht (11a und 11b) an den Oberflächenkontakten (S) bzw. (Sa) und (Sb) ausbilden, d) die piezo- oder ferroelektrische Schichten (11, 11', 11") verschiedene verspannungsabhängige strukturelle Phasen mit unterschiedlicher Bandlücke und/oder unterschiedlicher Polarisationsladung aufweisen, und e) die elektrische Leitfähigkeit der piezo- oder ferroelektrischen Schichten (11, 11', 11") unterschiedlich ist.

Gemäß verschiedenen Ausführungsformen kann ein komplementärer Widerstandsschalter aufweisen: zwei äußere Kontakte (T1, T2 ), zwischen denen zwei piezo- oder ferroelektrische Schichten (11a und 11b) liegen, die durch einen inneren gemeinsamen Kontakt voneinander getrennt sind, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass mindestens ein Bereich der piezo- oder ferroelektrischen Schicht (11a und 11b) mindestens einmal derart modifiziert ist, dass in der piezo- oder ferroelektrischen Schicht (11a und 11b) jeweils zwischen dem inneren Kontakt und dem zugehörigen äußeren Kontakt ein Bereich (11') der Dicke (d ') entsteht, weicher mindestens zusätzlich in einem Bereich (11") der Dicke (d") modifiziert sein kann, wobei a) die äußeren Kontakte Oberflächenkontakte (Sa) und (Sb) und der innere Kontakt ein gemeinsamer zugehöriger Gegenkontakt (O) oder die äußeren Kontakte Gegenkontakte (Oa) und (Ob) und der innere Kontakt ein gemeinsamer zugehöriger Oberflächenkontakt (S) sind, b) die Oberflächenkontakte (S), (Sa) und (Sb) gleichrichtend und die Gegenkontakte (O) bzw. (Oa) und (Ob) nicht-gleichrichtend sind, c) sich die modifizierten Bereiche in der piezo- oder ferroelektrischen Schicht (11a und 11b) an den Oberflächenkontakten (S) bzw. (Sa) und (Sb) ausbilden, d) die piezo- oder ferroelektrische Schichten (11, 11', 11") verschiedene verspannungsabhängige strukturelle Phasen mit unterschiedlicher Bandlücke und/oder unterschiedlicher Polarisationsladung aufweisen, und e) die elektrische Leitfähigkeit der piezo- oder ferroelektrischen Schichten (11, 11', 11") unterschiedlich ist.

Die Erfindung betrifft ein Gittersensor-System zum Charakterisieren einer Fluidströmung, aufweisend einen Sensoreinschub mit einem Gittersensorelement und eine Strömungsführung mit einer Einlass-Leitung, einer Auslass-Leitung und einer dazwischen angeordneten Einschubaufnahme zum Aufnehmen des Sensoreinschubes, wobei von der Strömungsführung ein geradliniger Strömungsweg gebildet ist, und wobei die Einschubaufnahme derart ausgebildet ist, dass der Sensoreinschub entlang einer quer zu dem Strömungsweg verlaufenden Einschubrichtung in die Einschubaufnahme einschiebbar ist.

Die Erfindung betrifft eine Anordnung zum Erfassen der Strömungsgeschwindigkeit einer Fluidströmung in einem Strömungsquerschnitt, aufweisend ein Sensorelement, eine Spannungsbeaufschlagungs-Einrichtung und eine Auswerteeinrichtung, wobei das Sensorelement mehrere unter Ausbildung von Kreuzungspunkten gitterartig angeordnete Elektroden und Gegenelektroden mit dazwischen angeordneten schwingfähigen Körpern aufweist, wobei die Spannungsbeaufschlagungs-Einrichtung zum Anlegen einer elektrischen Spannung zwischen die Elektrode und die Gegenelektrode der einzelnen Kreuzungspunkte ausgebildet ist, sodass das dadurch hervorgerufene elektrische Feld bei in die Fluidströmung eingebrachtem Sensorelement durch die strömungsinduzierte Schwingung der schwingfähigen Körper variiert wird, und wobei die Auswerteeinrichtung zum Ermitteln der lokalen Strömungsgeschwindigkeiten an den einzelnen Kreuzungspunkten mittels Auswertens der zugehörigen Feldvariation ausgebildet ist.

Die Erfindung betrifft eine Anordnung und ein Verfahren zur Dispersionsmessung sowie einen Mehrphasenapparat mit einer solchen Anordnung, wobei die Anordnung zum Ermitteln der Dispersion einer dispersen ersten Phase beim Durchlaufen eines Strömungsweges innerhalb einer kontinuierlichen zweiten Phase vorgesehen ist und zum Durchführen folgender Schritte ausgebildet ist: Zuführen eines Stoffstromes der ersten Phase in die zweite Phase an einer Zuführposition zur Ausbildung eines Gemischs mit der ersten Phase und der zweiten Phase, wobei der Stoffstrom der ersten Phase mit einem vorgegebenen Zuführstrom-Zeitverlauf moduliert wird; Erfassen eines zeitlichen Verlaufs eines Messsignals, das den Gehalt der ersten Phase in dem Gemisch an einer stromabwärts der Zuführposition angeordneten Messposition repräsentiert, als Messsignal-Zeitverlauf; und Charakterisieren der Dispersion der ersten Phase basierend auf dem Messsignal-Zeitverlauf.

Die Erfindung betrifft ein Verfahren zur Abtrennung von Uran(VI)-Verbindungen aus Uran(VI)-Verbindungen-haltigen Flüssigkeiten mit den Verfahrensschritten herstellen einer Suspension, enthaltend eine Mikrostruktur, aufweisend mindestens ein Flavonoid und mindestens eine amphiphile Substanz, zugeben der Uran(VI)-Verbindungen-haltigen Flüssigkeit zu der Mikrostruktur, wobei eine einen Flavonoid-Uran(VI)-Komplexes, wobei mindestens eine Uran-Spezies mit einer Oxidationsstufe kleiner sechs gebildet wird und entfernen der Uran-Spezies aus der Suspension.

Introduction:

Ionizing radiation leads to DNA damages - including double strand breaks (DSB) - which are detected by DNA repair proteins. Upon DSB formation, the histone variant H2AX is phosphorylated - giving rise to ɣH2AX foci. GammaH2AX foci represent a promising biomarker to predict radiosensitivity - and might contribute to the individualization of cancer treatment in the future. It has previously been shown that residual ɣH2AX foci (24 h post irradiation) negatively correlate with local tumor control in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) xenografts after 4 Gy irradiation in vivo [1]. Additionally, it is well known that the tumor micromilieu plays a critical role in cellular response to radiation. In this study, we propose to analyze residual ɣH2AX foci in established HNSCC models in a dose and micromilieu dependent manner [2]. Besides, the ɣH2AX foci assay has been translated to ex vivo irradiated patient biopsies. It could be shown that radiosensitive tumor entities present a steeper dose response curve compared to radioresistant entities [2]. Here, we show first results of the assay applied on HNSCC patient-derived biopsies.

Methods:

Cell line derived xenografts were subcutaneously transplanted on the hind leg of NMRI nude mice. When the tumor reached a size of 7x7 mm, BrdU (viability marker) and pimonidazole (hypoxia marker) were injected, and the mice were randomly distributed to 5 treatment arms (untreated control, 2 Gy, 4 Gy, 6 Gy, 8 Gy). The mice were sacrificed 24 h post irradiation, and the tumors were excised, fixed and embedded in paraffin (FFPE). Consecutive paraffin sections of the tumors were stained for BrdU and pimonidazole on the one hand - and for ɣH2AX on the other hand. GammaH2AX foci were manually counted in oxic areas at a maximal distance of 45 µm from the closest perfused vessel. In an attempt to transfer the assay to a clinical setting, patient-derived HNSCC biopsies were ex vivo cultivated for 24 h including 4 h of pimonidazole and BrdU treatment, subsequently irradiated with 0 – 8 Gy and FFPE fixed after 24 h.

Results and conclusion:

Preliminary results confirm that residual ɣH2AX foci increase in a dose dependent manner after in vivo irradiation, and that the different radiosensitivity of the xenograft models is associated with different slope of the dose response curves. In the patient materials, the different slopes of the dose response curves suggest patient specific repair capacities - which is of particular interest for treatment individualization.

Acknowledgement:

This work was supported by a grant of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF 02NUK035C).

References:

[1] Koch et al., Radiother. Oncol. 108:434–39 (2013)
[2] Menegakis et al., Radiother. Oncol. 116:473–79 (2015)

Während der Eiszeiten sind wiederholt die Gletscher aus den Alpen bis weit in das Schweizer Mittelland vorgestossen. Genaues Ausmass und Zeitpunkt sind selbst für die letzte Vergletscherung umstritten. Publizierte ¹⁰Be Expositionsalter von Findlingen auf dem Niederbippstadium des Rhone-Aare-Gletschers dokumentieren scheinbar den maximalen Vorstoss während der letzten Vergletscherung vor ca. 24 ka. Allerdings ist die Bodenentwicklung auf dem Niederbippstadium deutlich fortgeschrittener (Entkalkungstiefen von 3 bis 4 m) als die Bodenentwicklung auf dem Bern- und Gurtenstadium mit vermuteten Altern von ca. 18 – 20 ka (Entkalkungstiefen dort <1,5 m).
Wir haben mehrere Findlinge auf dem Bern- und Gurtenstadium beprobt und ihre ¹⁰Be Expositionsalter bestimmt. Die ältesten drei von sechs Findlingen vom Bernstadium liefern Expositionsalter um ca. 18 ka und dokumentieren den Gletscherstand des Aaregletschers kurz vor dem endgültigen und raschen Zerfall der Vorlandgletscher am Ende der letzten Eiszeit. Zwei von fünf Findlingen vom Gurtenstadium haben Expositionsalter um 20 ka und zeigen, dass der Aaregletscher zu diesem Zeitpunkt noch sehr viel grösser war. Auf beiden Stadien gibt es deutlich “zu junge” Expositionsalter, die höchstwahrscheinlich mit Erosion, geomorphologischer Instabilität, und menschlicher Aktivität erklärt werden müssen.
Es kann bisher nicht vollständig ausgeschlossen werden, dass die Expositionsalter des Niederbippstadium ebenfalls “zu jung” sind. Dann liesse sich die Bodenentwicklung auf dem Niederbippstadium problemslos erklären. Dokumentieren die Expositionsalter tatsächlich den maximalen Gletschervorstoss vor 24 ka, muss davon ausgegangen werden, dass die mächtige Entkalkung und Tonverlagerung dort in wenigen tausend Jahren, und vor allem unter glazialen Bedingungen stattgefunden hat. Weitere Findlinge sind daher im Moment in Bearbeitung, um den Zeitpunkt der maximalen, letztglazialen Vergletscherung zu klären.

Introduction: The temporal constancy of galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) over the last few billion years is an important and long-standing question in meteorite research. Over the years, meteorites have been intensely studied to answer this question [1]. While travelling in space, meteoroids are exposed to GCRs and the nuclear interactions produce (among others) stable (noble gases) and radioactive cosmogenic nuclides. Being interested in the long-term variation of the GCRs, we study iron meteorites because they typically have cosmic ray exposure (CRE) ages in the range of a few million years (Ma) and – for some – even up to 2 Ga [2]. It has been demonstrated previously that periodic GCR flux variations can induce peaks in CRE age histograms, which is due to the fact that during periods of high fluency the “apparent” time seems to run faster and vice-versa. Therefore, setting up a consistent exposure age histogram and then searching for periodic peaks would make it possible to study GCR flux variations.
Experimental methods: We measured the isotopic concentrations of He, Ne, and Ar by noble gas mass spectrometry at the University of Bern following procedures described earlier [3,4]. Analyses of the cosmogenic radionuclides ¹⁰Be, ²⁶Al, ³⁶Cl, and ⁴¹Ca have been performed at the DREsden Accelerator Mass Spectrometry facility (DREAMS, [5]) using chemical separation procedures described in [6].
Results: In total 55 iron meteorite samples, predominantly of class IIIAB, have been selected and investigated for their cosmogenic nuclide contents. The CRE ages have been calculated using the ³⁶Cl-³⁶Ar dating scheme [1]. However, doing so we had to correct ³⁶Cl for radioactive decay on Earth, i.e., we had to determine the terrestrial age for each studied meteorite. To avoid problems with ¹⁰Be and ²⁶Al production from inhomogeneously distributed sulfur- and phosphorous-bearing minerals, we use the ⁴¹Ca-³⁶Cl system to determine terrestrial ages instead of e.g. ¹⁰Be-³⁶Cl system. Doing so we use updated Monte-Carlo calculations, e.g., [3], instead of the classical semiempirical approaches [7]. Up to now, noble gases have been measured in 35 samples and radionuclides in 48 samples. The calculated CRE ages range between ~5 and ~700 Ma, which is in the range expected for iron meteorites [2,8]. So far, no features can be observed in the CRE ages histogram. Additional noble gas and radionuclide measurements are ongoing, which will increase the statistics and will help to study possible long-term variations in the GCR intensities over the last few billion years.
References: [1] Lavielle B. et al. 1999. Earth Planetary and Science Letters 170:93–104. [2] Wieler R. et al. 2013. Space Science Reviews 176:351-363. [3] Ammon K. et al. 2009. Meteoritics and Planetary Science 44:485-503. [4] Ammon K. et al. 2011. Meteoritics and Planetary Science 46:785-792. [5] Rugel G. et al. 2016. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics B 370:94-100. [6] Merchel S. and Herpers U. 1999. Radiochimica Acta 84:215-219. [7] Welten, K. et al. 2001. Abstract in 31st Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. [8] Eugster O. et al. 2006. Meteorites and the Early Solar System II, Part IX: 829-851.
Acknowledgments: The authors would like to thank the following museums and colleagues for their precious contribution to this study: D. Cook (ETH Zürich), the Ege University Observatory Research and Application Center, Turkey, L. Ferrière and F. Brandstätter (Naturhistorisches Museum Wien), P. Heck (The Field Museum, Chicago), A. Muszyński (Department of Mineralogy and Petrology, Poznań), I. Nicklin (Royal Ontario Museum), P. Rochette (CEREGE, Aix-Marseille Université), C. Smith (Natural History Museum London), and J. Zipfel (Senckenberg Naturmuseum Frankfurt). This work is supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF).

Introduction: The main mass of the Twannberg meteorite (15.9 kg) has been found 1984 in the Canton of Bern, Switzerland. The Twannberg meteorite belongs to the IIG group, which comprises so far only six members and which is characterized by large amounts of schreibersite (Fe,Ni)₃P and a low nickel content of 5% only [1]. Twannberg is so far the largest meteorite found in Switzerland. Recent research campaigns have increased the amount of recovered material yielding to a total mass of ~70 kg in ~550 individual pieces.
In this study, we analyzed 17 individual samples and calculated their cosmic ray exposure (CRE) age using cosmogenic noble gases and radionuclides. We applied updated Monte-Carlo model calculations to determine (i) the preatmospheric size, (ii) the cosmic ray exposure age, and (ii), especially, the terrestrial age of Twannberg to better understand its relation to the last glaciation event in Europe [1].
Experimental methods: The isotopic concentrations for He, Ne, and Ar have been measured by noble gas mass spectrometry at the University of Bern following procedures described earlier [2,3]. Analyses of the cosmogenic radionuclides (i.e., ¹⁰Be, ²⁶Al, ³⁶Cl, and ⁴¹Ca) have been performed at the DREsden Accelerator Mass Spectrometry facility (DREAMS, [4]) using procedures described in [5].
Results: In total, 17 samples have been analyzed for noble gas concentrations; seven of them have also been investigated for their cosmogenic radionuclide contents. We observe a wide range of noble gas and radionuclide concentrations of more than one order of magnitude among the different samples. The noble gas and radionuclide concentrations linearly correlate, demonstrating the reliability of the analysis despite low concentrations. Combining the data with improved model calculations indicate a preatmospheric radius of up to 10 m. Considering an average density of about 8 g/cm³ and assuming a spherical object, the preatmospheric mass of Twannberg was most likely larger than 33000 tons.
The CRE age for Twannberg, which has been determined using the ³⁶Cl-³⁶Ar method [6], is 236±50 Ma, which is in the range of typical CRE ages for iron meteorites [7] and which is in good agreement with the adopted age of 230±50 Ma found previously [1]. More importantly, the mean terrestrial age based on ⁴¹Ca-³⁶Cl systematics and up-dated Monte-Carlo calculations is 165±58 ka. The age therefore indicates that Twannberg most likely fell during the second last glaciation (~185-130 ka), or even during one of the two last (~130-115 ka) or (~225-185 ka) interglacials. Research campaigns in the field are still ongoing and we hope for a further recoveries of Twannberg material.
References: [1] Hofmann B. et al. 2009. Meteoritics and Planetary Science 44:187-199. [2] Ammon K. et al. 2008. Meteoritics and Planetary Science 43:685-699. [3] Ammon K. et al. 2011. Meteoritics and Planetary Science 46:785-792. [4] Rugel G. et al. 2016. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics B 370:94-100. [5] Merchel S. and Herpers U. 1999. Radiochimica Acta 84:215-219. [6] Lavielle B. et al. 1999. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 170:93-104. [7] Eugster O. 2003. Chemie der Erde-Geochemistry 63:3-30.
Acknowlegments: This study heavily relies on samples collected in a great effort by a joint group of meteorite enthusiasts and scientists. We particularly thank for the collaboration and samples: Marc Jost, Manuel Eggimann, Hannes Weiss, Sergey Vasiliev, Andreas Koppelt, Ernst Wyler, Gino Bernasconi, Marcel Häuselmann, and Edwin Gnos. This work is supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF).

Introduction: The reconstruction of pre-atmospheric sizes and exposure and terrestrial ages of meteorites including shielding depths of individual samples has advanced in the last decades. Technical developments in noble gas and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) led to cosmogenic nuclide data of higher accuracy. Additionally, progress in Monte-Carlo calculations [1] seems to produce more reliable interpretation of the experimental data than earlier “classical” semiempirical approaches. However, some problems regarding both experimental data and calculations are persistent. One of these is the production of lighter nuclides such as ¹⁰Be, ^21,22Ne, and ²⁶Al from inhomogeneously distributed sulfur- and phosphorus-rich inclusions or from trace elements in iron meteorites or metal phases of stony-iron meteorites. As we lately experienced again, the uselessness of ²⁶Al and ^21,22Ne for deciphering the history of a newly discovered iron meteorite, i.e. Gebel Kamil [2], we follow an approach to measure cosmogenic nuclides in schreibersite and troilite inclusions from iron meteorites compared to bulk metal to get more quantitative insights into these difficulties. First, samples from Morasko and Mundrabilla (metal, troilite, schreibersite) were investigated.
Experimental: Lighter stable nuclides of He, Ne, and Ar have been measured by noble gas mass spectrometry at the University of Bern [3], radionuclides (¹⁰Be, ²⁶Al, ³⁶Cl, and ⁴¹Ca) at the DREsden Accelerator Mass Spectrometry facility (DREAMS) [4,5] after radiochemical separation [6].
Results and discussion: Data of ³⁶Cl and ³⁶Ar of the metal yield to partially consistent exposure ages, i.e. (247 ± 26) Ma for Mundrabilla (compared to (350 ± 90) Ma [7]) and (210 ± 22) Ma for Morasko (compared to (130 ± 15) Ma [8]). Our Morasko exposure age is validated by the corresponding troilite analyses giving an age of (246 ± 49) Ma proving the ³⁶Cl-³⁶Ar-system not being influenced by contributions from sulfur within uncertainties. All our ages are based on three to four individual ³⁶Cl-³⁶Ar-analysis.
Terrestrial ages based on the ⁴¹Ca-³⁶Cl-system should be the most reliable and least influenced by S- and P-abundances. Data of Morasko was indistinguishable from saturation activities, thus, confirming the young terrestrial age of 5 ka determined by earlier luminescence-dating of the corresponding crater [9]. However, high ⁴¹Ca/³⁶Cl of 1.5 and 2.9 for troilite and metal fractions of Mundrabilla, respectively, do not allow calculating a reasonable terrestrial age pointing to unexplained discrepancies in either the AMS measurements or Monte-Carlo calculations for shielded samples. Further work is needed.
As expected, ²⁶Al is most severely influenced by S- and P-abundances. In Mundrabilla ²⁶Al (mean of four individual samples each; standard deviation) is as high as (4.618 ± 0.071) dpm/kg_troilite compared to neighboring metal fractions (0.1635 ± 0.010) dpm/kg_metal, resulting in ²⁶Al/¹⁰Be-ratios of 20.8 (troilite) compared to 0.9 (metal). Same observations (mean of three samples each; standard deviation) can be made for ²⁶Al in Morasko: (7.36 ± 0.18) dpm/kg_troilite vs. (0.2399 ± 0.0063) dpm/kg_metal with ²⁶Al/¹⁰Be of 19.4 (troilite) and 0.8 (metal). A single analysis of Morasko schreibersite produced intermediate ²⁶Al-data of (3.286 ± 0.081) dpm/kg_{schreibersite} resulting in ²⁶Al/¹⁰Be of ~1.6.
Conclusions and outlook: It has been clearly shown that even traces of troilite influence the ²⁶Al-concentration. It seems obvious that careful sample inspection under a binocular is essential to overcome the most severe influences by S- and P-inclusions. However, the determination of S and P in aliquots of each metal sample is analytical challenging and mean bulk values might not be representative for the individual sample. Nevertheless, we are aiming at deciphering thick-target production rates and cross-sections for ¹⁰Be, ^21,22Ne, and ²⁶Al - from S and P - from this first data and future analyses to include them into Monte-Carlo calculations for later use.
References: [1] Ammon K. et al. 2009. Meteoritics and Planetary Science 44:485-503. [2] Ott U. et al. 2014. Meteoritics and Planetary Science 49:1365-1374. [3] Ammon K. et al. 2008. Meteoritics and Planetary Science 43:685-699. [4] Akhmadaliev et al. 2013. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physic B 294:5-10. [5] Rugel G. et al. 2016. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics B 370:94-100. [6] Merchel S. and Herpers U. 1999. Radiochimica Acta 84:215-219. [7] Maruoka T. and Matsuda J. 2011. Chemical Geology 175:751-756. [8] Hutzler A. 2015. PhD thesis, Aix-Marseille Université. [9] Stankowski W.T.J. et al. 2007. Geochronometria 28:25-29.
Acknowledgements: We thank the operators of the ion beam centre and further colleagues at HZDR, especially René Ziegenrücker, for help in performing AMS measurements at DREAMS. We are grateful to Jutta Zipfel from Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum Frankfurt for putting precious Mundrabilla samples at our disposal.

With a meteorite concentration up to 170 meteorites over 10 g per km² [1], the Central Depression of the Ataca-ma Desert is an exceptional field for recovery of meteorites. Without clear evidence of physical concentration, and based on models calculating the falling rate of meteorites on Earth at 80 meteorites (>10 g) Ma-1 km² [2], the time needed to reach such a density is in the order of million years.
To test this hypothesis, a random subset of 25 chondrites from Chilean dense collection areas (DCA) were first ¹⁴C-dated. Over 67% of them are beyond the C-14 dating limit, namely ~40 ka. This led us to conclude that longer half-lived cosmogenic nuclides are better-suited to study this collection.
A random subset of 24 ordinary chondrites was chosen from the 213 meteorites of the El Médano collection (El Médano and Caleta el Cobre DCAs). Their terrestrial ages were calculated using cosmogenic nuclide concentrations. For comparison, we also present the terrestrial ages calculated for 10 Chilean iron meteorites (4 from this study, 6 from the literature [3]).
Cosmogenic nuclides (¹⁰Be, ²⁶Al, ³⁶Cl and ⁴¹Ca) were extracted from iron fractions of chondrites and from iron meteorites following [4]. Their concentrations were measured at the French 5 MV AMS national facility ASTER (CEREGE, France) [5]. Terrestrial ages have been calculated using three different methods: T_terr ³⁶Cl/¹⁰Be, T_terr ³⁶Cl/⁴¹Ca and T_terr ³⁶Cl [6][7].
The terrestrial ages of the El Médano collection meteorites are distributed between 35 ka and 1 Ma (³⁶Cl /⁴¹Ca method), with an unweighted average of (0.41±0.26) Ma. Terrestrial ages of the Chilean iron meteorites range be-tween 0 and 2.7 Ma, with an unweighted average at (0.43±0.43) Ma. This distribution highlights significantly older terrestrial ages than those related to other hot desert collections. It is comparable to the age spectrum for DCAs from Antarctica, such as Allan Hills. According to these results, it is possible for a meteorite collection to be preserved for over 1 Ma in a hot desert environment, providing the environment shows long-standing hyperarid conditions. In view of its exceptional old age, the El Medano meteorite collection offers the possibility to study the meteorite flux to Earth on the million years time scale.
References: [1] Hutzler A. et al. 2016. Meteoritics & Planetary Science 51:468-482. [2] Halliday, I. et al. 1989. Meteoritics 24:87-122 [3] Koblitz J. 2005. Metbase, version 7.1. [4] Hutzler A. 2015. PhD Thesis, Aix-Marseille-University. [5] Arnold et al. 2010. Physics Research B 268:1954-1959.[6] Leya I. and Masarik J. 2009. Meteoritics & Planetary Science 44, 1061-1086. [7] Nishiizumi K. et al. 1989. Earth and Planetary Science Letter 93:299-313.

Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of bioleaching for the treatment of an environmentally hazardous waste, a blast-furnace flue dust designated Theisen sludge.
Methods and Results: Bioleaching of Theisen sludge was investigated at acidic conditions with Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans in pure and mixed-species culture with Acidiphilium. In shaking-flask experiments, bioleaching parameters (pH, redox potential, zinc extraction from ZnS, ferrous- and ferric-iron concentration) were controlled regularly. The analysis of the dissolved metals showed that 70% zinc and 45% copper were extracted. Investigations regarding the arsenic and antimony species were performed. When iron ions were lacking, animonate (Sb(V)) and total arsenic concentration were highest in solution. The bioleaching approach was scaled up in stirred-tank bioreactors resulting in higher leaching efficiency of valuable trace elements. Concentrations of dissolved antimony were approx. 23 times, and of cobalt, germanium, and rhenium three times higher in comparison to shaking-flask experiments, when considering the difference in solid load of Theisen sludge.
Conclusions: The extraction of base and trace metals from Theisen sludge, despite of its high content of heavy metals and organic compounds, was
feasible with iron-oxidizing acidophilic bacteria. In stirred-tank bioreactors, the mixed-species culture performed better.
Significance and Impact of the Study: To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first providing an appropriate biological technology for the treatment of Theisen sludge to win valuable elements.

We report on the fabrication of optical ridge waveguides in Nd:LGS crystal by using combination of swift C5+ ion irradiation and precise diamond blade dicing. The ridge structures support guidance both at 632.8 nm and 1064 nm wavelength along the TE and TM polarizations. The lowest propagation losses of the ridge waveguide for the TM mode are ~1.6 dB/cm at 632.8 nm and ~1.2 dB/cm at 1064 nm, respectively. The investigation of micro-fluorescence spectra and micro-Raman spectra indicates that the Nd3+ luminescence features have been well preserved and the microstructure of the waveguide region has no significant change after C5+ ion irradiation.

The Kupferschiefer is one of the most important sources of copper and silver in Europe, with resources located mainly in Poland and Germany. Mineralization is stratabound and hosted by sedimentary rocks comprising of sandstone, black shale, and carbonate rocks. Because Kupferschiefer-type ores are typically complex and very fine-grained, alternative approaches for metal recovery, such as bioleaching, are becoming an attractive alternative to flotation.
The focus of this study was a detailed monitoring of mineralogical changes through time during bioleaching of sandstone-hosted Cu-mineralization from two Polish Cu-mines. The change of modal mineralogy, mineral associations, microbial activity and copper recovery of a copper bearing sandstone during bioleaching with Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans DSM 14882 was investigated. A series of 18 batch cultures and 18 abiotic controls in shaking flasks with a solid content of 6 wt.% was prepared and sampled every 3 to 4 days over a period of 18 days. Mineralogical analysis of leaching residues was done by mineral liberation analysis (MLA) and X-Ray powder diffraction (XRD), while chemical analysis of dissolved copper and ferric/ferrous iron was carried out with ion chromatography (IC).
The investigated sandstone ore contained 2.5 wt.% copper, mainly bound to the copper minerals chalcocite (Cu₂S, 1.3 wt.%), covellite (CuS, 1.0 wt.%) and bornite (Cu₅FeS₄, 0.9 wt.%). After 18 days the copper extraction was 84% for biotic samples and therefore significantly higher compared to abiotic controls (52%). MLA data showed that biotic dissolution was faster for all three copper ore minerals. The results of detailed mineralogical analysis indicate a passivation by jarosite during the leaching process, especially caused by ammoniojarosite. It was possible to trace progressive changes of each copper sulphide over the entire bioleaching process and calculate dissolution/formation rates by means of MLA data.

Ion irradiation appears as an interesting method of modification of elastomers, especially friction and wear properties. Main structural effect caused by heavy ions is a massive loss of hydrogen from the surface layer leading to its smoothening and shrinking. The paper presents the results of hydrogen release from various elastomers upon irradiation with H+, He+ and Ar+ studied by using Nuclear Reaction Analysis (NRA) method. The analysis of the experimental data indicates that the hydrogen release is controlled by inelastic collisions between ions and target electrons. The last part of the study was focused on preliminary analysis of mechanical properties of irradiated rubbers

The ultrafast electron beam X-ray tomography scanner ROFEX is used for the investigation of multiphase flows. Its functional principle allows us to obtain sequences of cross-sectional flow images, which shows local attenuation properties of the flow. Hence, the X-ray CT images mainly reveal the shape and interfaces of flow constituents, such as gas, liquid and solids via their X-ray contrast. It is, however, more difficult to obtain velocity information from multi phase flows. In this article we discuss different methods to extract information on the velocities of particles or interfaces as well as for continuous phase. For disperse phase velocity measurement, e.g. ingas–liquidorgas–solids flows, we employ cross-correlation based techniques using two imaging planes. Apart from the standard cross-correlation technique we developed a method and algorithm, which is capable to identify identical bubbles in the two planes giving us a unique Lagrangian particle-related velocity information. Eventually we give an example of velocity measurement in the continuous liquid phase using an X-ray contrast agent.

The structural, transport, and magnetic characteristics of polycrystalline MnxSi1 – x (x ≈ 0.51–0.52) films grown by pulsed laser deposition onto Al2O3(0001) substrates when the low-energy components are deposited owing to collisions with the atoms of the buffer gas have been studied in the “shadow” geometry. The magnetization of these films is determined by two ferromagnetic phases—the high-temperature phase with the Curie temperature TC ≈ 370 K and the low-temperature one with TC ≈ 46 K. The anomalous Hall effect changes sign from positive to negative with a decrease in temperature. The sign change occurs in the temperature range of 30–50 K; the specific value of this temperature depends on the thickness of the MnxSi1–x film. The results can be interpreted in terms of the structural self-organization related to the formation of two layers in the course of film growth. These layers have nearly the same chemical composition but significantly differ in the shapes and sizes of crystallites. This leads to a drastic difference in the values of TC and in the value and the sign of the anomalous Hall effect for such layers.

On the example of the Epembe carbonatite-hosted Nb-Ta-LREE deposit we showcase the use of hyperspectral reflectance data and geomorphic indicators to improve the remote sensing exploration of structurally controlled critical raw material deposits. It further demonstrates how exploration can benefit from a combination of expert knowledge and remotely sensed relief as well as imaging data. In a first stage, multi-source remote sensing data feed lithological mapping based on \textit{kohonen} Self-Organizing maps. We show that morphological indices such as Topographic Position Index, and spatial coordinates are crucial parameters to improve the accuracy of carbonate classification by 10%. The resulting lithological map shows the spatial distribution of the ridge forming carbonatite dyke, the fenitization zone, syenite plugs and mafic intrusions. In a second step, the internal zones of the carbonatite complex were identified using multi-range spectral feature fitting (MRSFF) algorithm and a specific decision tree. This approach allowed detecting potential enrichment zones characterized by an abundance of fluorapatite and pyroxene as well as dolomite-carbonatite (beforsite). Cross validation of the mineral map with field observations and radiometric data confirm the accuracy of the proposed method.

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In Leichtwasserreaktoren sind Not- und Nachkühlsysteme vorhanden, die auch bei einem Kühlmittelverluststörfall zu jedem Zeitpunkt die im Kern erzeugte Nachzerfallsleistung über einen längeren Zeitraum abführen müssen. Dazu muss die für die Abfuhr der Nachwärme erforderliche Menge Wasser zur Verfügung stehen. Die Not- und Nachkühlsysteme müssen derart betrieben werden, dass ihre Funktion weder durch Einschränkungen des hydraulischen Verhaltens noch durch mechanische Probleme beeinträchtigt wird. Insbesondere Gasmitriss durch luftziehende Hohlwirbel, Dralleintrag sowie Kavitation können zu einer Störung oder sogar zu einem Ausfall des Not- oder Nachkühlsystems führen. Das Ziel des Verbundprojektes SAVE ist die Bereitstellung von verbesserten bzw. neuen Berechnungsgleichungen sowie von Auslegungsempfehlungen zur Vermeidung von Gasmitriss in Pumpenzuläufen. Da sich ein Gasmitriss nicht immer konstruktiv ausschließen lässt, erfolgt darüber hinaus die Beschreibung des Gasmitrisses in Pumpenzuläufen und des hieraus resultierenden Einflusses auf Kreiselpumpen und Armaturen. Hierfür werden experimentelle Messungen an groß- und kleindimensionierten Anlagenkomponenten durchgeführt und durch dreidimensionale Strömungssimulationen (CFD) ergänzt. Die Ergebnisse der Untersuchungen dienen der Aufstellung und Validierung theoretischer Modelle, die durch physikalisch begründete Ansätze an reale Prozesse angepasst werden können. Die experimentelle und theoretische Analyse ist für die Ermittlung von Gültigkeitsbereichen und Skalierungsansätzen sowie für die Gewährleistung der Übertragbarkeit auf andere Stoffsysteme und Betriebsbedingungen unerlässlich. Dies wiederum ermöglicht eine Übertragung der Erkenntnisse über die nukleare Sicherheitsforschung hinaus auf andere Forschungsbereiche.

In Kraftwerken ist der zuverlässige Betrieb von Pumpen und Armaturen eine Grundvoraussetzung für einen effizienten und sicheren Betrieb. Beispielsweise sind in Kernkraftwerken mit Leichtwasserreaktoren Not- und Nachkühlsysteme vorhanden, die auch bei einem Kühlmittelverluststörfall zu jedem Zeitpunkt die im Kern erzeugte Nachzerfallsleistung über einen längeren Zeitraum abführen müssen. Im Rahmen des Verbundprojektes SAVE wird das Verhalten von Pumpen und Armaturen in Leichtwasserreaktoranlagen unter kritischen Betriebsbedingungen untersucht. Ein Schwerpunkt bildet dabei die Problematik des Gasmitrisses durch Hohlwirbelbildung in Pumpenzulaufbecken sowie die Auswirkung von Luftmitriss auf das Betriebsverhalten der Komponenten. Dazu wurden umfangreiche experimentelle Studien an Einlaufbeckengeometrien, Kreiselpumpen und Armaturen durchgeführt und durch numerische Simulationen begleitet. Ziel ist die experimentelle Validierung bzw. Weiterentwicklung von Modellen zur Auslegung von Einlaufgeometrien sowie zur Festlegung sicherer Einlaufüberdeckungen. Die Ergebnisse können für die Auslegung, Optimierung, Nachrechnung sowie Prüfung von Zulauf- und Armaturgeometrien genutzt werden. Einer der Schwerpunkte liegt hierbei auf der Erfassung von Maßstabseffekten, wofür Untersuchungen in verschiedenen Größenordnungen durchgeführt wurden. Die Arbeiten umfassen u. a. die experimentelle Untersuchung der Hohlwirbelbildung im Pumpenansaugbecken sowie der Auswirkungen des daraus resultierenden Luftmitrisses auf nachfolgende Systemkomponenten wie Kreiselpumpen und Armaturen, die tomographische Untersuchung und Visualisierung der Gas-Flüssigkeitsverteilungen im Inneren von Kreiselpumpen und Armaturen sowie die experimentelle Untersuchung von nuklearen Armaturen in verschiedenen Stresstests, so zum Beispiel unter erhöhten seismischen Belastungen. Begleitet werden die experimentellen Untersuchungen von numerischen Simulationen, wobei die experimentell erzielten Ergebnisse in eine verbesserte Modellbildung einfließen.

Preclinical in-vivo studies using small animals are essential to develop new therapeutic options in radiation oncology. Of particular interest are orthotopic tumour models, which better reflect the clinical situation in terms of growth patterns and microenvironmental parameters of the tumour as well as the interplay of tumours with the surrounding normal tissues. Such orthotopic models increase the technical demands and the complexity of preclinical studies as local irradiation with therapeutically relevant doses requires image-guided target localisation and accurate beam application. Moreover, advanced imaging techniques are needed for monitoring treatment outcome. We present a novel Small Animal Image-Guided Radiation Therapy (SAIGRT) system, which allows for precise and accurate, conformal irradiation and X-ray imaging of small animals. High accuracy is achieved by its robust construction, the precise movement of its components and a fast high-resolution flat-panel detector. Field forming and X-ray imaging is accomplished close to the animal resulting in a small penumbra and a high image quality. Feasibility for irradiating orthotopic models has been proven using lung tumour and glioblastoma models in mice. The SAIGRT system provides a flexible, non-profit academic research platform which can be adapted to specific experimental needs and therefore enables systematic preclinical trials in multicentre research networks.

Introduction: Suitable in vivo modelling of Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is essential for developing new radio-oncological treatment strategies. On the translational axis from bench to bedside, it is important to have a model which closely reflects the clinical situation. However, it is also essential to investigate clinically relevant endpoints and use models which are reasonable regarding costs and feasible regarding statistically necessary animal numbers. Established cell lines are comprehensively characterized and can be efficiently engrafted in large cohorts of animals. In this project, a panel of five human GBM cell lines (U 87 MG, U 251 MG, A7, LN 229, HGL21) is characterized after subcutaneous and orthotopic xenograft transplantation (take rate, radiosensitivity, histology, putative stem cell markers (SM)) to investigate their potential as suitable GBM models.

Methods: Limiting dilution assays were performed using subcutaneous injection of decreasing cell numbers. Intrinsic radiosensitivity and effectiveness of combined Radiochemotherapy was studied by irradiation of subcutaneous tumors with different dose levels. Take dose 50% (TD50) and tumor control dose 50% (TCD50) were calculated. For orthotopic transplantation, mCherry- or luciferase-positive cell variants were used. Intracranial transplantation was performed with a stereotactic frame. Tumor growth was assessed weekly via optical imaging and contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging. After excision, tumors were analysed histologically (Haematoxylin/Eosin, SM).

Results: Both, TD50 and TCD50 values are low for the five GBM models. One of four investigated models showed no signs of orthotopic tumor growth. Two models grew within 30-60 days to end size but the histological phenotype showed weak analogy to GBM patients. Stem cell marker heterogeneity was high between the models and also differed between the orthotopic and heterotopic transplantation site (e.g. Nestin positivity in U-87 MG ortho: 100%, hetero: ~80%).

Conclusion: The low TD50 values indicate high amounts of cancer initiating cells. However, the surprisingly low TCD50 values are in contrast to the remarkable radioresistance of GBM in patients. Additionally, no investigated model shows a GBM-like histology after orthotopic transplantation. Although xenograft models from established cell lines of other entities very closely mirror the clinical situation, this remains questionable for GBM.

The effects of gas entrainment in centrifugal pumps have been experimentally investigated. Depending on different gas entrainment conditions, the impact on the hydraulic power of the pump has been analyzed and the influence of the pump installation position has been disclosed. Additionally, high-resolution gamma-ray computed tomography (HireCT), operated in time-averaged rotation-synchronized scanning mode, has been used to resolve and quantify the local gas/liquid phase fraction distribution inside the operating pump impeller. Based on these quantitative tomographic measurements, gas holdup profiles along selected streamlines have been calculated and gas accumulation inside the impeller chambers has been visualized.

survey lecture on recent imaging techniques developed at HZDR focused on industrial and scientific applications

We report on large negative and positive magnetoresistance in inhomogeneous, insulating Si:Ga films below a critical temperature of about 7 K. The magnetoresistance effect exceeds 300% at temperatures below 3Kand fields of 8T. The comparison of the transport properties of superconducting samples with that of insulating ones reveals that the large magnetoresistance is associated with the appearance of local superconductivity. A simple phenomenological model based on localized Cooper pairs and hopping quasiparticles is able to describe the temperature and magnetic field dependence of the sheet resistance of such films.

Carbon nanotubes constitute a highly anisotropic form of carbon with outstanding mechanical, thermal end electrical properties. Their dispersion and organization are important but challenging issues and this chapter describes the advantages of using thermotropic liquid crystals as host for nanotube dispersion and ordering.

Resistively switching oxides are promising materials for use in electronic applications such as nonvolatile memories, logic gates, and artificial synapses. This work presents the bipolar resistive switching (BRS) in YMnO₃/Nb:SrTiO₃ pn-heterojunctions. A thermally driven electroforming process is required prior to the observed BRS. Results indicate that the BRS in YMnO₃/Nb:SrTiO₃ originates from the combined effects of charge trapping and detrapping processes along with the electro-migration of charged point defects in the depletion layer of the pn-heterojunction. It is shown that the built-in voltage of the pn-heterojunctions can be tuned by the oxygen partial pressure during growth of the YMnO₃ thin film and impacts the working parameters of the resistively switching cell. This study provides a guideline for material engineering of bipolar resistive switches based on pn-heterojunctions.

We present first measurements of spectrally resolved x-rays scattered from cryogenic hydrogen jets in the single photon counting limit. The 120 Hz capabilities of the LCLS, together with a novel hydrogen jet design, allow for the ability to record a near background free spectrum. Such high-dynamic-range x-ray scattering measurements enable a platform to study ultra-fast, laser-driven, heating dynamics of hydrogen plasmas. This measurement has been achieved using two Highly Annealed Pyrolytic Graphite (HAPG) crystal spectrometers to spectrally resolve 5.5 keV x-rays elastically and inelastically scattered from cryogenic hydrogen and focused on to Cornell-SLAC Pixel Array Detectors (CSPAD).

In the event of a clad breach in Sodium-cooled Fast Reactors (SFRs), the metallic sodium coolant will enter the pin and react with the (U, Pu, Np)O2 fuel. The reaction products are numerous, but there is still little knowledge of their structural and thermodynamic properties. Under the oxygen potential conditions of the reactor, pentavalent Na3U1-xPuxO4 is expected to form, but its structure was the subject of controversy until now. This compound was shown in the 1980s to be of lower density and lower thermal conductivity than the fuel, leading to local swelling and creation of hot spots. Such a situation can induce further cladding failure and result in a contamination of the primary coolant with highly radioactive fission products.

In this work, we have revisited the crystal structure of the Na3MO4 (M=U,Np,Pu) reaction product. Surprisingly, the structure of the sodium uranate differs from the one observed with neptunium and plutonium. In addition, this phase can accommodate excess sodium on the uranium site, with subsequent charge compensation from U(V) to U(VI), which was not previously foreseen. By contrast, the sodium neptunate and plutonate remain pentavalent.

Temperature and oxygen potential are the two fundamental parameters that control the chemistry of the interaction. Assessing the margin to the safe operation of SFRs requires a thorough knowledge of the actinide cation valence state in the reaction products, and a complete thermodynamic description of the system. The valence state was determined in the Na-M-O (M=U,Np,Pu) ternary phases using XANES and Mössbauer spectroscopy, covering a wide range of oxidation states, namely (IV) to (VII). Coupling experimental thermodynamic investigations with thermodynamic modelling assessments using the CALPHAD method, we have calculated the phase equilibria in the Na-U-O system, and derived the oxygen potential threshold required within the fuel (and sodium coolant) to form the sodium uranate ternary phases.

Because of their high charge density, the aqueous chemistry of f-elements (i.e. lanthanides and actinides) with lower valences (e.g. tri- and tetravalent) is predominantly controlled by strong hydrolysis producing a variety of hydroxide species. Interestingly enough, this strong hydrolysis often induces the intrinsic formation of polymer and nano-sized cluster complexes which are stable even in aqueous solutions. This talk will provide a recent overview of the hydrolysis-induced polymer/cluster formation of tetravalent f-elements, with a special focus on tetravalent cerium (Ce(IV)), primarily from the viewpoint of structural chemistry, as well as the associated characterisation techniques (e.g. X-ray absorption spectroscopy or X-ray scattering).

Populärwissenschaftlicher Beitrag unter Vorstellung der Phage Surface Display Methode und aktuellen Forschungsergebnissen im MinePep Projekt

Bubble columns are a common type of multiphase reactors used in many chemical engineering applications. Optimization and scale-up of bubble column processes is a complex task that can greatly benefit from multiphase CFD simulations. Calculations on industrial scales become feasible by the Euler-Euler two-fluid model, but suitable closure relations describing interfacial exchange processes are needed for practical application. Concerning pure fluid dynamics of dispersed gas-liquid multiphase flow an ongoing effort has led to a validated set of closures that is applicable under a rather broad range of conditions. The availability of new experimental data with large spatial and temporal resolution and high accuracy for a comprehensive set of observables and a range of different conditions provides the opportunity for further testing of this model. In this way the reliability of the obtained predictions is continually increased.

A 4-fluorobenzoate-functionalized phosphane was synthesized and reacted with different azides using the traceless Staudinger ligation as a representative sample reaction for future radiolabeling purposes with short-lived radionuclides like fluorine-18. For this purpose, the reaction rate was evaluated at different temperatures. The effect of starting material concentrations and the influence of the steric effect coming from the applied azides were investigated. 19F NMR was used to determine the reaction half-live (τ1/2) and the reaction rate constant (kobs) of this ligation under mild reaction conditions in a water–acetonitrile mixture. Furthermore, the phosphane key compound 1 (orthorhombic, space group Pna21, a = 18.6363(9), b = 8.3589(4), c = 18.5480(9) Å, V = 2889.4(2) Å3, Z = 8, Dobs = 1.277 g/cm3), which acts as starting material for all subsequent syntheses, and the fluorine-containing phosphane 3 (monoclinic, space group P21/c, a = 8.321(2), b = 16.160(4), c = 14.940(4) Å, β = 99.51(1)°, V = 1981.4(8) Å3, Z = 4, Dobs = 1.342 g/cm3) were analyzed by single-crystal XRD.

A statistical approach is used to analyse the early phase of station blackout accident for generic German PWR with the best estimate system code ATHLET-CD as a computation tool. The analysis is mainly focused on the timescale uncertainties of the accident events which can be detected at the plant. The developed input deck allows variations of all input uncertainty parameters relevant to the case. The list of identified and quantified input uncertainties includes 30 parameters related to the simulated physical phenomena/processes. Time uncertainties of main events as well as the major contributors to these uncertainties are defined. A linear regression analysis is used for predicting times of future events from detected times of occurred/past events. The presented statistical approach could be helpful for assessing and improving existing or elaborating additional emergency operating procedures aimed to prevent severe damage of reactor core.

The paper presents results of a follow-up to an earlier study which established a geospatial link between naturally elevated uranium (U) levels in borehole water and haematological abnormalities in local residents serving as a proxy for leukaemia prevalent in the area. While the original study focussed on drinking water only, this paper also explores alternative exposure pathways including the inhalation of dust and the food chain.
U-levels in grass and tissue of sheep generally reflect U-levels in nearby borehole water and exceed background concentrations by 20 to nearly 500 times. U-levels in sheep tissue increase with age of the animal. Wool showed the highest U-concentration followed by other non-consumable tissue such as hooves, teeth and bones. Lower levels occur in edible parts such as meat and inner organs. The U-deposition rate in wool is several orders of magnitudes higher than in bone as a known target organ. Wool is an easy-to-sample noninvasive bioindicator for U-levels in meat. Depending on the original water content, dried samples show up to 5 times higher U-levels than identical fresh material.
Contaminated drinking water is the main exposure pathway for farm residents resulting in U-uptake rates exceeding the WHO’s tolerable daily intake (TDI) limit by up to 900%. This is somewhat mitigated by the fact that U-speciation is dominated by a neutral calcium-uranyl-carbonate complex of relatively low toxicity. Commercially available household filters are able to significantly reduce U-levels in well water and are thus recommended as a short-term intervention. Based on average consumption rates sheep meat, as local staple food, accounts for 34% of the TDI for U. Indoor levels of radon should be monitored, too, since it is linked to both, U and leukaemia. With elevated U-levels being present in other geological formations across South Africa boreholes in these areas should be surveyed.

Oxide Dispersion Strengthened (ODS) steels are considered as one of the most promising candidates for structural materials in next generation nuclear fusion reactors and future nuclear fission reactors [1]. The ODS materials consist of a ferritic or ferritic/martensitic Fe-Cr matrix filled with yttria-based oxide particles and is fabricated during mechanical alloying and hot consolidation processes. It is well known that their extraordinary properties such as high-temperature creep strength as well as high dose ion/neutron irradiation resistance are due to formation of small Y-Ti-O clusters with a size of few nanometers. Besides their significant effect on reduction of dislocations and grain-boundaries mobility, the nanoclusters also act as traps for point defects like vacancies, interstitials and helium, which may be typically generated in a nuclear reactor. It is still under debate what the formation mechanisms of the nanoclusters are and why they prove such high temperature and radiation damage stability.
Experimental methods typically applied to investigate the issues stated above cannot fully reflect the atomic-scale of the nanoclusters, as well as the mechanisms related to their formation, evolution and destruction upon radiation damage. Therefore, atomistic computer experiments can significantly contribute to a general understanding.
In this work, kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) technique is applied to study evolution of Y-Ti-O nanoclusters in a bcc-Fe and FeCr matrix. Starting from a uniform distribution of O, Y, Ti atoms in the matrix at first a stationary state is produced by high temperature annealing. Such a state is characterized by a certain population of Y-Ti-O nanoclusters. Then vacancies and interstitials are introduced in order to simulate ion and neutron irradiation taking into account realistic conditions, and the evolution of the nanostructure is studied. The parameters for the atomic interactions used in KMC were obtained recently by first-principle Density-Functional-Theory calculations and applied in Metropolis Monte Carlo simulations on energetics, structure and composition of the Y-Ti-O nanoclusters [2].
1. G. R. Odette, M. J. Alinger, B. D. Wirth, Annu. Rev. Mater. Res. 38, 471 (2008)
2. M. Posselt, D. Murali, B. K. Panigrahi, Modelling Simul. Mater. Sci. Eng. 22, 085003 (2014)

For controlled transfer of high torques in devices, like engine fans and/or four wheel drives, viscous couplings are frequently used. Torque transfer is realized in viscous couplings by a working fluid, mainly responsible for the transfer quality, i.e. efficiency and operating range as well as stability. Unfortunately, investigations at rapidly rotating couplings is challenging since they consist of dense material, e.g. aluminum, have no optical access and the work area is composed of ring channels being significantly smaller than on millimeter. Thus, the high-resolution computed tomography measurement system (HireCT) is used for contactless liquid investigations in an industrial viscous coupling operated under various authentic operation scenarios. Despite the limited spatial resolution of approximately 2 mm and a measuring interval of approximately 900 s sharp liquid phase distributions could be provided in both primary disc and housing side of the coupling from a single CT scan. Here, the so called time-averaged rotation synchronized CT scanning mode is applied, where the acquired projection data stream are synchronized and averaged corresponding to the rotational position of the couplings’ parts. Therefore, zero crossing signals from the primary and secondary side are simultaneously acquired. The reconstructed data comprises the cross-section of the coupling and liquid distribution correspondingly.

The adoptive transfer of CD19-specific chimeric antigen receptor engineered T cells (CAR T cells) resulted in encouraging clinical trials in indolent B cell malignancies.
However, they also show the limitations of this fascinating technology: CAR T cells can lead to even life-threatening off-tumor, on-target side effects if CAR T cells cross-react with healthy tissues.
Here, we describe a novel modular universal CAR platform technology termed UniCAR, which reduces the risk of on-target side effects by a rapid and reversible control of CAR T cell reactivity. The UniCAR system consists of two components: (i) a CAR for an inert manipulation of T cells, and (ii) specific targeting modules (TMs) for redirecting UniCAR T cells in an individualized time- and target-dependent manner. UniCAR T cells can be armed against different tumor targets simply by replacement of the respective TM for (i) targeting more than one antigen simultaneously or subsequently to enhance efficacy, and (ii) reducing the risk for development of antigen-loss tumor variants under treatment. Here we provide “proof of concept” for retargeting of UniCAR T cells to CD33 and/or CD123 positive AML Blasts in vitro and in vivo.

The experimental study of radiative capture reactions directly at the energies of relevance for astrophysics requires long experiments with low counting rate. This type of study has greatly bene ted in recent years from the ultra-low gamma-ray background level underground, in the INFN Gran Sasso laboratory, Italy. There, the LUNA 400kV accelerator has enabled a rich research program. The 2 H(alpha,gamma)6 Li reaction has been studied for the first time in the Big Bang energy region. Very recently, three resonances have been observed for the first time in the 22 Ne(p,gamma)23 Na reaction, directly at energies relevant for the hot- bottom burning process in asymptotic giant branch stars. Studies on other hydrogen burning reactions on 17,18O and 23Na are ongoing, with promising preliminary results. The group report will show an overview of recent progress and discuss future perspectives, in particular on the future LUNA experiment on the Big Bang 2H(p,gamma)3He reaction.

Felsenkeller shallow-underground 5 MV accelerator for nuclear astrophysics, status and outlook is discussed as of February 2016, with a view also on potential European collaborations.

The progress of the Felsenkeller shallow-underground 5 MV accelerator for nuclear astrophysics is reviewed, as of early 2016

Towards SiPM readout for the NeuLAND large plastic scintillator

Historic mining in the Eastern Alps has left us with a legacy of numerous spoil heaps hosting specific, metal tolerant vegetation. Such habitats are characterized by elevated concentrations of toxic elements but also by high irradiation, a poorly developed substrate or extreme pH of the soil. This study investigates the distribution of vascular plants, mosses and lichens on a copper spoil heap on the ore bearing Knappenberg formed by Prebichl Layers and Werfener Schist in Lower Austria. It serves as a model for discriminating between various ecological traits and their effects on vegetation.Five distinct clusters were distinguished: (1) The bare, metal rich Central Spoil Heap was only colonised by highly resistant specialists. (2) The Northern and (3) Southern Peripheries contained less copper; the contrasting vegetation was best explained by the different microclimate. (4) A forest over acidic bedrock hosted a vegetation overlapping with the periphery of the spoil heap. (5) A forest over calcareous bedrock was similar to the spoil heap with regard to pH and humus content but hosted a vegetation differing strongly to all other habitats.Among the multiple toxic elements at the spoil heap, only Cu seems to exert a crucial influence on the vegetation pattern. Besides metal concentrations, irradiation, humidity, humus, pH and grain size distribution are important for the establishment of a metal tolerant vegetation. The difference between the species poor Northern and the diverse Southern Periphery can be explained by the microclimate rather than by the substrate. All plant species penetrating from the forest into the periphery of the spoil heap originate from the acidic but not from the calcareous bedrock.

Background: The poor prognosis associated with Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) largely arises from the radiochemotherapy resistance of GBM cells and their aggressive infiltration and destruction of the healthy brain. β1 integrin and c-Jun N terminal kinase (JNK) are potential therapeutic targets in GBM owing to their regulation of radioprotective pro-survival and pro-invasive signaling hubs in Glioblastoma stem-like cells and the tumor bulk. Here, we evaluate the effect of simultaneous targeting of β1 integrin and JNK in combination with radiochemotherapy on clonogenic survival and invasion of patient-derived GBM stem-like cells and GBM cell lines in vitro and in an orthotopic GBM mouse model.
Methodology: The sphere forming capacity, clonogenic survival and invasion of patient-derived GBM stem-like cells (GS-8, DK41, DK42) and Glioblastoma cell lines (HT7606, T4, U343-MG) was analyzed upon irradiation (0-6 Gy X-ray), chemotherapy (Temozolomide, TMZ, IC10) or a combination of both. Simultaneously, β1 integrin was inhibited by the specific antibody AIIB2 and JNK activation was blocked by pharmacologic inhibition using SP600125 (IC10, IC50). In addition, tumor growth and survival of mice with orthotopic GBM were assessed upon dual β1 integrin/JNK inhibition combined with radiochemotherapy. Changes in signal transduction mechanisms were examined by means of Western blotting and broad-spectrum phosphoproteome analysis. Cell cycle changes were evaluated by FACS and alterations in DNA repair mechanisms were quantified by immunofluorescent staining of DNA double strand breaks.
Results: Co-inhibition of β1 integrin and JNK strikingly induces radiochemosensitization and blocks invasion of patient-derived GBM stem-like cells and GBM cell lines. In line, the combination of radiochemotherapy plus dual targeting significantly delays tumor growth resulting in prolonged median survival of mice bearing orthotopic GBM. Mechanistically, phosphoproteome and functional analysis reveals that the radiochemosensitizing potential of the β1 integrin/JNK co-inhibition is caused by a prolonged G2/M arrest upon irradiation due to a defective repair of DNA double strand breaks.
Conclusion: Here, we suggest co-targeting of β1 integrin and JNK as a promising approach to overcome radiochemoresistance of GBM in-vitro and in-vivo. Intriguingly, sphere forming capacity and invasion of GBM stem-like cell populations as well as clonogenicity and invasion of established GBM cell lines could be substantially reduced upon dual targeting simultaneously to conventional radiochemotherapy. Currently, ongoing studies are aimed at identifying possible bypass mechanisms.

To precisely determine BBN 6Li production, the cross-section of the nuclear reaction 2H(α, γ)6Li must be directly measured within the astrophysical energy range of 30–400 keV. This measure requires an ultra- low γ-ray background in the experimental set-up. We have realized the conditions matching these very strict requirements at LUNA, the deep underground accelerator laboratory active in the INFN Gran Sasso National Laboratory (LNGS), Italy: the γ-ray spectrometer background has been reduced down to reach unmatched low levels, comparable to the good ones experienced in dedicated off-line underground ultra low γ counting rate. We present and discuss the γ-ray background reduction reached in the HpGe spectrometer, where most of the remaining γ-ray background seen in the spectra are coming from the energetic deuterons scattered in the gas target by the α beam. Thanks to the low neutron environmental background at LUNA, the effect of this weak flux of 2–3 MeV neutrons on HpGe detectors has been studied in details and the results are presented and discussed.

Against the background of nuclear waste disposal, the interactions between actinides and organic complexation agents were studied. Actinides show a variety of different oxidation states, but in case of a deep disposal, the tetravalent species can be predominant in the environment. We synthesised An(IV) chlorides and iodides as actinide starting materials and studied organic ligand systems ranging from pure oxygen to pure nitrogen donors. Some first isostructural actinide complexes were determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction and spectroscopic techniques showing the typical shortening of the donor-acinide bonds across the actinide series.

A portable cosmic particle tracking detector has been developed by the REGARD group with angular resolution of 10 mrad. The Close Cathode Chamber-based tracking system is optimized for environmental and geophysical applications with its weight of 15 kg and size of 51 cm × 43 cm × 32 cm. Our aim was to determine the cosmic background at the site of the proposed accelerator and experimental facilities at an approximate 50 meter depth in Felsenkeller, Dresden, Germany. Here, we present our high-precision muon flux measurements, which have been performed during 44 days in one of the tunnels. Angular acceptance of our mapping covered full 2π solid angle of the upper hemisphere. The maximum flux value is found to be below 2.5 m^{-2}sr^{-1}s^{-1}.

The nucleosynthesis of elements beyond iron is dominated by neutron captures in the s and r processes. However, 32 stable, proton-rich isotopes cannot be formed during those processes, because they are shielded from the s-process flow and r-process beta-decay chains. These nuclei are attributed to the p and rp process. For all those processes, current research in nuclear astrophysics addresses the need for more precise reaction data involving radioactive isotopes. Depending on the particular reaction, direct or inverse kinematics, forward or time-reversed direction are investigated to determine or at least to constrain the desired reaction cross sections. The Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) will offer unique, unprecedented opportunities to investigate many of the important reactions. The high yield of radioactive isotopes, even far away from the valley of stability, allows the investigation of isotopes involved in processes as exotic as the r or rp processes.

Big Bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) describes the production of light nuclei in the early phases of the Universe. For this, precise knowledge of the cosmological parameters, such as the baryon density, as well as the cross section of the fusion reactions involved are needed. In general, the energies of interest for BBN are so low (E < 1 MeV) that nuclear cross section measurements are practically unfeasible at the Earth’s surface. As of today, LUNA (Laboratory for Underground Nuclear Astrophysics) has been the only facility in the world available to perform direct measurements of small cross section in a very low background radiation. Owing to the background suppression provided by about 1400 meters of rock at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS), Italy, and to the high current offered by the LUNA accelerator, it has been possible to investigate cross sections at energies of interest for Big Bang nucleosynthesis using protons, 3He and alpha particles as projectiles. The main reaction studied in the past at LUNA is the 2H(4He,γ)6Li. Its cross section was measured directly, for the first time, in the BBN energy range. Other processes like 2H(p,γ)3He, 3He(2H,p)4He and 3He(4He,γ)7Be were also studied at LUNA, thus enabling to reduce the uncertainty on the overall reaction rate and consequently on the determination of primordial abundances. The improvements on BBN due to the LUNA experimental data will be discussed and a perspective of future measurements will be outlined.

With the R3B-LAND setup at GSI we have measured exclusive relative-energy spectra of the Coulomb dissociation of 18C at a projectile energy around 425~AMeV on a lead target, which are needed to determine the radiative neutron-capture cross sections of 17C into the ground state of 18C. Those data have been used to constrain theoretical calculations for transitions populating excited states in 18C. This allowed to derive the astrophysical cross section σ∗nγ accounting for the thermal population of 17C target states in astrophysical scenarios. The experimentally verified capture rate is significantly lower than those of previously obtained Hauser-Feshbach estimations at temperatures T9≤1~GK. Network simulations with updated neutron-capture rates and hydrodynamics according to the neutrino-driven wind model as well as the neutron-star merger scenario reveal no pronounced influence of neutron capture of 17C on the production of second- and third-peak elements in contrast to earlier sensitivity studies.

Resonant nuclear reactions are a powerful tool for the determination of the amount and profile of hydrogen in thin layers of material. Usually, this tool requires the use of a standard of well-known composition. The present work, by contrast, deals with standard-less hydrogen depth profiling. This approach requires precise nuclear data, e.g. on the widely used 1H(15N,αγ)12C reaction, resonant at 6.4\,MeV 15N beam energy. Here, the strongly anisotropic angular distribution of the emitted γ-rays from this resonance has been re-measured, resolving a previous discrepancy. Coefficients of (0.38±0.04) and (0.80±0.04) have been deduced for the second and fourth order Legendre polynomials, respectively. In addition, the resonance strength has been re-evaluated to (25.0±1.5)\,eV, 10\% higher than previously reported. A simple working formula for the hydrogen concentration is given for cases with known γ-ray detection efficiency. Finally, the absolute approach is illustrated using two examples.

The fundamental oscillation mode of magnetic vortices in thin-film elements has recently been exploited in spin-torque-driven nano-oscillators [A. Wachowiak et al., Science (2002)]. The fundamental frequency is determined by the saturation magnetisation, as well as the geometrical confinement of the magnetisation e.g. the diameter and height of a magnetic disk. The objective of this study is to design magnetic discs, contact them with electrical leads and probe the dynamics of the vortex structures using magnetoresistive detection. By varying the thickness and dimensions of the disk, requirements for the magnetic vortex as a ground state will be determined. The electrical resistance of a single disc is expected to change based on the relative angle between the magnetisation direction and the applied current (the anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) effect) [S. Kasai et al, PRL 97, 107204 (2006)]. Using the AMR as a detection technique we will determine if electrical detection of dynamics is feasible in this geometry and its associated limits.

P-type ATPases couple ATP hydrolysis to ion transport. We have reconstituted the copper-transporting P1B-type ATPase LpCopA from Legionella pneumophila into lipid nanodiscs in order to study the influence of membrane lateral pressure on the functionally relevant intra-membrane protein hydration at the ion-binding site. Using site-directed mutagenesis, the solvatochromic fluorophore BADAN was covalently linked to the cysteine residues at the conserved copper-binding CPC motif on transmembrane helix 4. The decomposition of the fluorescence spectra of labeled LpCopA in the micellar and the lipid-inserted state shows that membrane lateral pressure reduces hydration and water mobility in the environment of the more buried Cys-382 with a concomitant change of the local dielectric constant by −9. In contrast, the environment of Cys-384 which is located closer to the putative membrane surface, resembles a “hydrophobic gate” with low water mobility that is little affected by insertion into a bilayer (change of local dielectric constant by −3). The asymmetric hydration and water mobility around the CPC motif provides Cys-382 with a highly dynamic hydration. The data show that membrane lateral pressure may provide a restoring force in hydration / dehydration cycles around Cys-382 in the transmembrane domain during catalytic activity. The lower hydration and mobility in the Cys-384 environment, on the other hand, would favor the dehydration of copper and hinder its re-solvation from the intracellular side.

The interaction of slow highly charged ions with solid surfaces is associated with many different phenomena. One of them is the formation of a hollow atom or ion already in front of the surface due to resonant electron transfer above the Coulomb barrier between the ion and the surface [1]. A hollow atom is a highly excited neutral particle, which will rapidly de- excite by either radiative or non-radiative processes [2,3].
Here we study the former process when Xenon and Argon ions with charge states up to Q=40 and Q=18, respectively, are transmitted through a freestanding single layer of graphene. Emitted x-rays are detected with a Bruker XFlash detector with an energy resolution of 140eV. Transmitted ions are also detected with an electrostatic analyzer, allowing charge exchange and energy loss measurements. Both ion and x-ray detection can be performed in coincidence in order to clearly distinguish between x-rays emitted from ions transmitted through graphene and ions impinging on the surrounding target holder (see Fig. 1).

Studying ion-solid interaction has a long standing tradition both in fundamental research and for technological applications. The main parameter in this respect is the ion stopping force, i.e. the kinetic energy loss per unit length in a solid. The stopping force depends on the kinetic energy of the ions as well as on the degree of ionization [1]. The latter fact is usually disregarded, because after a few nanometers in a solid the ion accommodates an equilibrium charge state independent of it’s initial charge state. Stopping force in charge equilibrium is very well known.
Here we use slow (v ≪ v0) highly charged ions (Q Z) to study stopping force far from charge equilibrium and the charge equilibration dynamics [2,3]. Using novel two-dimensional materials as target material allows us to limit the ion trajectory in the solid with monolayer precision and thus study non-equilibrium effects.
The left side of fig. 1 shows schematically the experimental conditions with an ion beam transmitted under normal incidence through a freestanding single layer graphene sheet. The ion energy and charge state are measured with an electrostatic analyzer. A typical charge state distribution for Xe30+ ions at 40 keV (310 eV/amu) transmitted through graphene is also shown (right). Ions at this low velocity (0.1v0) are not fully neutralized. Hence, they still capture and stabilize about 20 electrons within the collision time of only 1-3 fs. Especially stabilization of the electrons is surprising, since the classical-over-barrier model for charge exchange [4] predicts the population of highly excited states with principal quantum numbers of n > 10 and a subsequent Auger electron cascade. Such a cascade would lead to the reemission of electrons and thus to a recharging of the ion. Present results show the need for a model beyond classical-over-barrier.
This ultrafast charge exchange process is accompanied by a kinetic energy loss of up to ∆E /E ≈ 10 %, which is about 1 order of magnitude larger than predicted by the SRIM code. In this contribution, recent results on charge exchange and energy loss of highly charged ion at low velocities in graphene will be presented. A qualitative description of the processes involved will be given.

Processes in ion-solid interaction are subject to both fundamental research and technological application. The ion stopping force, i.e. the kinetic energy loss per unit length in a solid is here a key main parameter. The stopping force depends on the kinetic energy of the ions as well as on the ionic charge [1]. Usually the influence of the charge state is neglected, because after a few nanometers in a solid the ion accommodates an equilibrium charge state Qeq independent of it’s initial charge. Stopping force in charge equilibrium is well understood.
In this study we use slow (v≪v0) highly charged ions (Qeq≪Q) to study stopping force far from charge equilibrium [2,3]. Using novel two-dimensional materials as target material allows us to limit the ion interaction in the solid to only a single scattering event.
In our experiment an ion beam is transmitted through a freestanding single layer of graphene. The ion energy and charge state after transmission are measured with an electrostatic analyzer. Ions at low velocity (0.05v0 - 0.25v0) are not fully neutralized. Hence, they still capture and stabilize about 20 electrons within the collision time of less than 3 fs. Especially stabilization of the electrons is surprising, since the classical-over- barrier model for charge exchange [4] predicts the population of highly excited states with principal quantum numbers of n > 10 and a subsequent Auger electron cascade. Such a cascade would lead to the reemission of electrons and thus to a recharging of the ion.
This ultrafast charge exchange process is accompanied by a kinetic energy loss of up to ∆E /E ≈ 10 %, which is about 1 order of magnitude larger than predicted by the SRIM code.

We report on nanostructuring of the KCl(001) surface due to individual impact of slow highly charged ions. Samples were irradiated with Xe ions with charge states of Q = 15 to 40 at kinetic energies from 1.7 to 160 keV. The formation of nanopits at the virgin surface is observed and attributed to a defect mediated desorption process involving the removal of up to 2000 surface atoms per incident ion. The depth of the produced pits is shallow, but not limited to the first monolayer. From the variation of the ion parameters (charge state and kinetic energy) we derive a phase diagram for the structuring of the KCl(001) surface with highly charged ions.

The SRF gun at ELBE will benefit most of the local user beamlines for future high-bunch-charge operations. Parallel to its development, simulation-based investigations have been performed to improve the beam quality for THz experiments and Compton backscattering experiments. These two applications have the most challenging requirements: THz experiments benefit significantly from short bunch lengths at the sub-ps level, while Compton backscattering experiments demand small transverse beam sizes of about 30 µm. The beam dynamics of the SRF gun are simulated with ASTRA and the beam transport is optimized using Elegant. Important physical effects included in simulations are introduced first, where the interesting phenomenon of “slice mismatch” is generally quantified and numerically studied. Afterwards, beam transport strategies and optimization methods are proposed which are based on the specific settings of ELBE but also applicable to similar accelerator setups. Finally, optimizations of the SRF gun and the beam transport in ELBE are presented. Results show that the SRF gun is capable of providing 500 pC bunches for both applications with better beam qualities than the currently 100 pC bunches supplied by the existing thermionic DC source.

We probe here the optical relaxation properties of Mg-doped wide-band-gap LiNbO3 single crystals with both a high spectral and temporal resolution at cryogenic temperatures. Surprisingly, we observe the photoluminescence to decay in a two-step process: a fast relaxation and a slower one centered around an energy Emax=2.62±0.05 eV. Both decays fit well to the stretched-exponential behavior. Moreover, we are able to associate these energies to the recombination of light-induced Nb4+ and O− small polarons. Also, we checked the stability of our findings by using LiNbO3 single crystals that show on-purpose modified radiative recombination processes, i.e., with a Mg doping both above and below the optical damage resistance threshold, as well as with different poling histories of inverted domains.

Hyper doping Si with up to 6 at.% Ti in solid solution was performed by ion implantation followed by pulsed laser annealing and flash lamp annealing. In both cases, the implanted Si layer can be well recrystallized by liquid phase epitaxy and solid phase epitaxy, respectively.
Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy of Ti-implanted Si after liquid phase epitaxy shows the so-called growth interface breakdown or cellular breakdown owing to the occurrence of constitutional supercooling in the melt. The appearance of cellular breakdown prevents further recrystallization. However, the out-diffusion and cellular breakdown can be effectively suppressed by solid phase epitaxy during flash lamp annealing due to the high velocity of amorphous-crystalline interface and the low diffusion velocity for Ti in the solid phase.

A novel europium (III) nitridoborate, Eu₃[B₃N₆], was successfully synthesized by oxidation of Eu₃ ^II[BN₂]₂ with Br₂ at 1073 K. The compound crystallizes in the trigonal space group R3c (No:167) with a=11.9370(4) Å, c=6.8073(4) Å, and Z=6. The crystal structure of Eu₃[B₃N₆] consists of isolated, planar cyclic [B₃N₆]^9- units which are charge-balanced by Eu³⁺ cations. The oxidation state of Eu was investigated by Mössbauer spectroscopy, electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy, and quantum chemical calculations. The ¹⁵¹Eu Mössbauer spectroscopic measurement at 77 K reveals that the main signal at δ=0.93(7) mm/s is originating from trivalent Europium. Eu₃[B₃N₆] showed no ESR signal in accordance with a non-magnetic (J=0) ⁷F₀ ground state of the 4f₆ configuration. Quantum chemical calculations find six electrons in the 4f subshell (4f₆) of Eu indicating an oxidation state of +3. We present for the first time the vibrational spectra of a compound with cyclic trimer [B₃N₆]^9- moieties. The Raman spectrum of Eu₃[B₃N₆] is in good agreement with the predicted number of modes for the spectroscopically relevant cyclic [B₃N₆]^9- group with D_3h symmetry.

Deutsch:

Computersimulationen sind heutzutage ein wichtiges, wissenschaftliches Instrument. Visualisierungen dieser helfen dabei die Daten zu verstehen und zu interpretieren. Da auf heutigen Peta- und zukünftigen Exascalesystemen zu viele Daten pro Zeitschritt entstehen, um sie komplett in einem Postprocessingschritt visualisieren zu können, stellt diese Arbeit die In-Situ Visualisierungsbibliothek ISAAC vor, die die Daten direkt nach ihrer Entstehung verteilt visualisieren kann, ohne sie zu speichern oder zu übertragen. Mithilfe von Templates und Template Metaprogrammierung wird ein abstraktes, wiederverwendbares Interface beschrieben, welches trotzdem eine simulationsspezifische Optimierung erlaubt. Die Visualisierung mittels Raytracing erfolgt auf den Originaldaten der Simulation, auch wenn diese auf einem Rechenbeschleuniger wie Nvidia GPUs oder Intel Xeon Phis läuft. In diesem Fall nutzt auch ISAAC die Beschleunigerhardware. Des Weiteren wird die Möglichkeit beschrieben, beliebige Metadaten zwischen Clients und Simulationen auszutauschen, insbesondere um sie live steuern zu können.
Neben der C++ Visualisierungsbibliohtek für Simulationen wird weiterhin ein generischer, zentraler Server zur Videostreamerzeugung motiviert und beschrieben sowie ein einfacher HTML Referenzclient zur Anzeige und Steuerung der Simulation implementiert. Zur Evaluierung der Lösung wird mit ISAAC die verteilte, GPU-beschleunigte Plasmasimulation PIConGPU des HZDR visualisiert. Des Weiteren wird die Rendergeschwindigkeit in Abhängigkeit verschiedener Parameter gemessen und diskutiert.

English:

Computer simulations are important scientific instruments these days. Visualizations help to understand and interpret these data. Since with the classic post processing approach too much data is produced per time step on recent peta scale and future exa scale systems this thesis introduces the in situ visualization library ISAAC, which is able to visualize distributed data right after creation without theneed to store or transmit them. Using templates and template meta programming an abstract and reusable interface is described, which still enables simulation specific optimizations. The visualization over ray tracing works on the original data of the simulation, even if it runs on computation accelerators like Nvidia GPUs or Intel Xeon Phis. In these cases ISAAC is using the accelerators, too. Furthermore a way of sending and receiving meta data from and to simulations is described, especially to be able to steer them.
Besides this C++ library for visualization of simulations, a generic central server for creating video streams is motivated and described and also a simple HTML reference client for showing and steering simulations is implemented. For the evaluation of the solution, ISAAC is used to visualize the distributed gpu-based plasma simulation PIConGPU form the HZDR. Furthermore the speed of rendering dependent on different parameters is measured and discussed.