Beitrag zu den Schmelzgleichgewichten der Eisen-Aluminium- und Eisen-Phosphor-Legierungen

Überprüfung der Schmelzgleichgewichte der Systeme Eisen–Aluminium und Eisen–Phosphor mit Hilfe der thermischen Analyse und durch Halteversuche. Überarbeitung der Zustandsschaubilder. Angabe des Verlaufs der Liquidus- und Soliduslinien und der Konzentrationen der Dreiphasengleichgewichte in den Zweistoffsystemen.     

Improved compressed sensing reconstruction for $$^{19}$$ F magnetic resonance imaging

Magnetic Resonance Materials in Physics, Biology and Medicine - In magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), compressed sensing (CS) enables the reconstruction of undersampled sparse data sets. Thus,...     

Identification of potential areas for biomass production in China: Discussion of a recent approach and future challenges

A standard methodology is needed to recognize potentially suitable areas for sustainable bioenergy crop production. This facilitates better identification of promising crops and cropping systems, logistical and economic studies, and work needed to meet regulatory criteria. A possible approach is built upon three layers of internationally available spatial data: (1) degrading and abandoned areas, (2) potentially suitable land cover classes, (3) exclusion zones such as nature reserves and areas of high biodiversity. For China, areas identified as potentially suitable range from 1.2 to 6.0% of the national territory, depending on different levels of statistical confidence in degrading area status and allowable limits of terrestrial carbon. Verification on the ground showed that about 60% of points tested conformed to the remote suitability assessment in the scenario, which represents the results for the combination of all degrading areas and a terrestrial carbon stock limit of 200 t ha⁻¹. A top-down approach is useful in framing potentially suitable locations, but a complementary bottom-up analysis is still required to ultimately identify areas for sustainable bio-fuel production.     

Configuration interaction calculations of positron binding to molecular oxides and hydrides and its effect on spectroscopic constants

Ab initio multireference single- and double-excitation configuration interaction (MRD-CI) calculations have been carried out for magnesium oxide (MgO) and lithium oxide (LiO) and their positronic complexes. These results are compared with previous theoretical data obtained earlier for beryllium oxide (BeO) and the series of alkali hydrides with and without an additional positron. Potential curves have been constructed for each of the systems, MgO, e⁺MgO, LiO and e⁺LiO. Positron affinities (PAs) of 0.472 eV and 0.304 eV, respectively, have been computed for the ground states of MgO and LiO. Because of the relatively low ionization potential of the Li atom, it is found that the dissociation limit in the latter case is Li⁺ + PsO (Oe⁺e⁻), whereas it is Mg + e⁺O in the former case, in close analogy to what has been found for e⁺BeO. Significant changes in bond lengths, vibrational frequencies and dissociation energies are indicated as a result of binding a positron to each of these oxides as well as to the alkali hydrides studied earlier. The general trend observed is toward increased bond length and decreased frequency as a result of attaching a positron to these systems in their various low-lying electronic states.     

Piloting of anionic polymerization of styrene in tetrahydrofurant

Anionic polymerization of styrene in THF with n‐butyllithium/alpha‐methylstyrene initiator is described as a first step in preparation of a styrenic block copoly‐mer. In order to suppress rapid decay of living alpha‐methylstyrene unimers, which occurred at room temperature, the initiation reaction was carried out at ?20(+5)°C. The kinetic parameters of this decay reaction were determined and used for process optimization. By combining experiments with modelling of styrene propagation reaction all key process parameters were defined for l‐L, 38‐L, and 189‐L reactors. A good match was demonstrated between the model and experimental propagation exotherm for semibatch reaction conditions. Overall, it was demonstrated that technical grade THF and styrene could be used at pilot plant scale to prepare well‐defined polymers up to Mn 22 000 via the “living” polymerization mechanism. The resulting polymers had narrow molecular weight distributions (1.06 < Mw/Mn < 1.30).     

Intramyocardial Inflammation after COVID-19 Vaccination: An Endomyocardial Biopsy-Proven Case Series

Myocarditis in response to COVID-19 vaccination has been reported since early 2021. In particular, young male individuals have been identified to exhibit an increased risk of myocardial inflammation following the administration of mRNA-based vaccines. Even though the first epidemiological analyses and numerous case reports investigated potential relationships, endomyocardial biopsy (EMB)-proven cases are limited. Here, we present a comprehensive histopathological analysis of EMBs from 15 patients with reduced ejection fraction (LVEF = 30 (14–39)%) and the clinical suspicion of myocarditis following vaccination with Comirnaty^® (Pfizer-BioNTech) (n = 11), Vaxzevria^® (AstraZenica) (n = 2) and Janssen^® (Johnson & Johnson) (n = 2). Immunohistochemical EMB analyses reveal myocardial inflammation in 14 of 15 patients, with the histopathological diagnosis of active myocarditis according the Dallas criteria (n = 2), severe giant cell myocarditis (n = 2) and inflammatory cardiomyopathy (n = 10). Importantly, infectious causes have been excluded in all patients. The SARS-CoV-2 spike protein has been detected sparsely on cardiomyocytes of nine patients, and differential analysis of inflammatory markers such as CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells suggests that the inflammatory response triggered by the vaccine may be of autoimmunological origin. Although a definitive causal relationship between COVID-19 vaccination and the occurrence of myocardial inflammation cannot be demonstrated in this study, data suggest a temporal connection. The expression of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein within the heart and the dominance of CD4⁺ lymphocytic infiltrates indicate an autoimmunological response to the vaccination.     

Characterization of amorphous alloys by thermal analysis techniques

Various thermal analysis studies were conducted to characterize metallic glasses. The methods used, namely differential scanning calorimetry, dilatometry, dynamic mechanical analysis and thermomagnetometry, are shown to be useful for studying thermally induced phenomena. Examples covered demonstrate the usefulness of thermal techniques in evaluating structural relaxation. Curie temperature, glass transition, and devitrification processes. A basis of understanding structural relaxation and the glass transition is discussed in terms of a diagram of enthalpy against temperature.     

Effect of bottom stirring and post stirring on the oxygen distribution between metal and slag at the end of the LD process

Studies concerning the effect of stirring and post-stirring on the oxygen distribution at the end of the LD process show that a post-stirring phase following the end of the blow establishes an oxygen distribution close to equilibrium. The sub-lance tests performed at 90% of the oxygen throughput show in comparison with the post-stirring phase a distinct oxygen deficiency, while the blow end-point measurements show an excess of oxygen.     

Germany’s journey toward 14 Tesla human magnetic resonance

Multiple sites within Germany operate human MRI systems with magnetic fields either at 7 Tesla or 9.4 Tesla. In 2013, these sites formed a network to facilitate and harmonize the research being conducted at the different sites and make this technology available to a larger community of researchers and clinicians not only within Germany, but also worldwide. The German Ultrahigh Field Imaging (GUFI) network has defined a strategic goal to establish a 14 Tesla whole-body human MRI system as a national research resource in Germany as the next progression in magnetic field strength. This paper summarizes the history of this initiative, the current status, the motivation for pursuing MR imaging and spectroscopy at such a high magnetic field strength, and the technical and funding challenges involved. It focuses on the scientific and science policy process from the perspective in Germany, and is not intended to be a comprehensive systematic review of the benefits and technical challenges of higher field strengths.