State-Selective Attachment of Helium to Molecular Ions in a New Cryogenic Ion Trap

Light is the main information about the interstellar medium accessible on Earth. Based on this information one can conclude on the composition of the region where the light originates from, as well as on its history. The requirement for this is that it is possible to identify the different absorption and emission features in the spectrum and assign them to certain molecules, atoms or ions. To enable the identification of the different species, precise spectroscopic investigations of the species in the laboratory are necessary. In this work a new spectroscopic method is presented, which can be used to record pure rotational spectra of mass selected, cold, stored molecular ions. It is based on the idea of state specific attachment of helium atoms to the stored molecular ions. The new technique has been made possible through the development and recent completion of two new 22-pole ion trap instruments in the work group of Laboratory Astrophysics at the University of Cologne. These new instruments have the advantage to reach temperatures as low as 4K compared to the 10K of the predecessor instrument. These low temperatures enable the ternary attachment of helium atoms to the stored molecular ions and by this make it possible to develop this new method for pure rotational spectroscopy. According to this, this work is divided into two parts. The first part deals with the new FELion experiment that was build and characterized in the first part of the thesis. FELion is a cryogenic 22-pole ion trap apparatus, allowing to generate, mass select, store and cool down, and analyze molecular ions. The different components of the instrument, e.g. the Storage Ion Source for generating the ions or the first quadrupole mass filter, are described and characterized in this part. Besides this also the newly developed control and data acquisitions system is introduced. With this instrument the measurements presented in the second part of the work were performed. The second part deals with the new action spectroscopic method of state-selective helium attachment to the stored molecular ions. For a deeper analysis of the new technique the systems of CD+ and helium and HCO+ and helium are investigated in detail. Analytical and numerical models of the process are presented and compared to experimental results. The results of these investigations point to a seemingly very general applicability of the new method to a wide class of molecular ions. In the final part of the thesis measurements of the rotational spectrum of l-C3H+ are presented. These measurements have to be high-lighted, since it was possible for the first time in the laboratory to unambiguously measure four low-lying rotational transitions of l-C3H+. These measurements (Brünken et al. ApJL 783, L4 (2014)) enabled the reliable identification of so far unidentified emision lines observed in several regions of the interstellar medium (Pety et al. Astron. Astrophys. 548, A68 (2012), McGuire et al. The Astrophysical Journal 774, 56 (2013) and McGuire et al. The Astrophysical Journal 783, 36 (2014)).

Economics of Ethical and Prosocial Behavior: Experiments on Social Responsibility, Ignorance, and Cheating

In this thesis I experimentally investigate prosocial and ethical behavior in economic interactions. The thesis consists of three experimental research papers that have a broad range of research questions on social responsibility, ignorance and cheating. With these experiments I aim to better understand when and why people behave ethically and/or prosocially and which consequences it has on their own and other players’ payoffs, and on overall efficiency. The results from the three experimental studies suggest that (i) donations to charity by employees are rewarded in an experimental setting, and the effect is driven by reciprocal concerns; (ii) there is a significant fraction of people who decide not to know about negative consequences of own actions, and the sorting of social agents of a low type into ignorance drives self-interested behavior of ignorant agents; and (iii) if the possibility of being exposed as a liar is small, the tendency to lie increases with incentives, indicating that some people have positive and finite costs of lying. Furthermore, when the participants lie, they lie to the full extent, which suggests that the intrinsic cost of lying is fixed.

Colorectal retained foreign bodies per anum introduced. Three years retrospective study at Emergency Surgery Unit

Colorectal foreign bodies per anum introduced are not exceptional. They can be classified as high-lying or low-lying, depending on their location relative to the recto-sigmoid junction. High-lying rectal foreign bodies sometimes require surgery; low-lying ones are often palpable by digital examination and can removed at bedside. No reliable data exist regarding the frequency of inserted rectal foreign bodies and the literature is largely anecdotal. We review our experience on patients almost all males and heterosexual with retained colorectal foreign bodies and their outcome in Surgical Emergency Unit of a Southern Italy University hospital.

Mitigation of sea level rise effects by addition of sediment to shrimp ponds

In New Caledonia barren salt-pans located landward to mangroves are used for the construction of shrimp ponds. The existing farms are jeopardized by the projected rise in the sea level, because the landward boundaries of ponds are situated at the elevation reached by spring tides. One low-cost strategy for mitigating the effects of sea level rise is to raise the level of the bottom of ponds. To test the effectiveness of such an adaptation, we built 4 experimental ponds in the low-lying zone of an existing 10 ha shrimp pond. The level of the bottom of 2 ponds was raised by adding about 15 cm of agricultural soil. Placing agricultural soil in the pond did not impair the functioning of the shrimp pond ecosystem. On the contrary, it resulted in unexpectedly better shrimp production in the 2 ponds with agricultural soils versus control ponds. We conclude that placing a layer of soil inside shrimp ponds is a promising strategy for maintaining the viability of shrimp ponds as the sea level rises.

Estética do apocalipse: (re) considerações acerca da (des) arborização urbana de Natal e seu contributo à saúde pública

This study intends to establish a relation between environmental degradation, particularly the devastation of the green canopy, and public health. Utilizing a mapping of the trees included in the researched area, each individual tree was analyzed according to its age, taxonomic listing, architecture, shape and size (determined by aesthetic/convenience reasons or deformed by pruning). Initially investigated were the covert reasons lying underneath the constant aggression against trees (which many times seem to contain elements of hatred and contempt) within the urban environment. In addition to that, the aspects concerning environmental modifications and the consequent impact on public health were also assessed. Two main problems promptly emerged as a result of the removal of trees: a) without a canopy to protect the areas, they became subject to winds directly blown from SW Africa and impregnated with aerosol partic les, which are common causes for respiratory disorders and, b) direct UV solar radiation, which causes some types of skin cancers and eye disorders. To reach such results, we studied the origins and formation of UV radiation induced cancers and searched for the UV radiation spectra of action, e.g., usual intensity and quantity reaching clear and shadowed spaces in a certain area and its consequences. In a second instance, we also searched for pertinent data resources in order to confirm the increase of skin cancer cases due to exposure to UV radiation and the relation between the destruction of the green canopy and the above mentioned problems. We believe that a few significant results have been achieved by this study, namely: the relation between a culture based on medieval beliefs and its consequences on the environment; how this culture exploits and deforms nature in pursuit of financial and psychological interests to a point of transforming the landscape into a copy of something devoid of any relation to latitude and altitude; and above all, the indifference concerning the alarming results carried by these modifications

Neue Erkenntnisse zum geologischen Bau des “Kleinen Berges” zwischen Bad Laer und Bad Rothenfelde (südwestliches Niedersachsen) aufgrund der Ergebnisse der Tiefbohrung ‘Bad Laer Z 1’

The 2108,0 m deep exploration well "Bad Laer Z 1" (1993) has been carried down in order to investigate the deeper ground lying beneath the "Kleiner Berg" anticline, concerning the existence of reservoir beds which was postulated according to preceeding seismic investigations. This aim of the borehole was not attained, because no formations have been drilled suitable for the construction of an artificial gas reservoir. On the other hand the bore hole revealed a great amount of new regional geologic, stratigraphic, mining, coalification and coal bed gas data. Therefore, from a scientific point of view the exploration well must be considered successful. After the drilling of a stratigraphic succession, mainly consisting of cretaceous "Pläner" limestones (from Albian to Turonian), surprisingly in a depth of only 439 m productive Upper Carboniferous rocks formed by the Lembeck beds of uppermost Westfalian C have been found. In addition to this discovery, nearly the whole Westfalian C and B reaching down to the coal bed "Katharina" at the Westfalian A boundary were drilled through revealing over 66 partly minable coal beds. Investigations of the coalification pattern showed a more or less continuous increase of the rank gradient with depth reaching from the step of gas flame coal down to 700 m over that of gas coal down to 1600 m to that of fat coal down to the bottom of the borehole. An additional surprising result of the exploration well was the observation, that immediately below the base of the Cretaceous the coal beds revealed a high gas content without the presence of a desorption zone. This result must also be considered as success of the drilling with respect to the strong interest in a potential utilization of coal bed methane nowadays.

Diketopyrrolopyrrole derivatives for bulk heterojunction and dye sensitised solar cells

This thesis describes the synthesis and characterisation of a series of molecules for use in bulk heterojunction and dye sensitised solar cells. The target molecules were based on a central diketopyrrolopyrrole subunit. Molecules based on diketopyrrolopyrrole have a conjugated structure, allowing for π-π interaction. Diketopyrrolopyrrole molecules also have relatively low lying HOMO and LUMO levels and high absorption coefficients and exhibit efficient charge transport properties. Furthermore, their electron withdrawing properties have warranted their use as promising organic photovoltaic materials. A number of molecules were successfully synthesised and sent to collaborators for testing in organic photovoltaic devices and development of this series of molecules continues to be of interest within the research group.

Construção da profissionalização: criatividade no ato educativo

Relatório de estágio para a obtenção do grau de Mestre em Educação Pré- Escolar e Ensino do 1ºCiclo do Ensino Básico

Copio (Baschi-Montecchio, Terni). Un avamposto etrusco sulla sinistra del Tevere Presentazione dei risultati delle indagini di superficie (maggio - giugno 2015)

This paper attempts to demonstrate the importance of the archaeological area of Copio, in province of Terni (Italy). Discovered for the first time in the 1980 by the local historian then mentioned in 2001 and in 2003 in two different archaeological publications, the site of Copio started to arouse interest for its position, lying on a hilltop above one of the most interesting pre-Roman necropolis of Umbria (Vallone di San Lorenzo). The link between the well-known necropolis and Copio is today well-accepted. The aim of this paper, based on a field-walking survey and the analisys of the archaeological finds, is to demonstrate the importance of this area during the pre-Roman period as a commercial bridgehead linked to Volsinii. Strategically lying only one km to east from the Tiber, it should have enjoyed this important and commercial path for the local trade moving goods in incoming and outcoming.

Morfoestruturas quilométricas em forma de crescente nas águas profundas do Golfo de Cádis

O levantamento batimétrico MATESPRO, realizado no NW do Golfo de Cádis, revelou a existência de intrigantes objectos morfológicos jacentes entre os 4300 e os 4700 metros de profundidade. Estes objectos, de dimensões quilométricas, são constituídos por uma depressão interna limitada parcialmente por uma escarpa em forma em crescente que pode atingir mais de 100 m de altura, com declives que variam entre os 6 e os 27° e cuja parte interna é constituída por uma depressão preenchida por unidades progradantes, que se desenvolvem no sentido da escarpa. Estes objectos são interpretados como o resultado da acção conjunta de processos tectónicos e sedimentares e da sua interacção com correntes de fundo. A actividade tectónica gera rupturas de declive no fundo do mar. As correntes de fundo e turbidíticas interagem com estas irregularidades morfológicas, amplificando-as através da sua acção erosiva, permitindo assim a criação das escarpas abruptas dos crescentes e a formação de corpos sedimentares progradantes. ABSTRACT; Multi-beam swath bathymetry carried out in NW Gulf of Cadiz revealed several intriguing features, lying at depths between -4300 and- 4700 m. These features display kilometric crescent escarpments up to 100 m high with slopes between 6 and 27 degrees, in an area characterized by very shallow general slope gradients (0,5 °). The internal part of a Crescent consists of a depression filled up with upslope prograding drift developing towards the scarp. These features are interpreted as the coupled result of sedimentary and tectonic processes. It is proposed that the Crescents formed when a local morphologic irregularity, corresponding to the bathymetric expression of movement on an underlying thrust, is enhanced by the erosional activity of turbidity and bottom currents. The drift results from the re-deposition of the eroded material in the same location.

The interaction between two oppositely travelling, horizontally offset, antisymmetric quasi-geostrophic hetons

We investigate numerically the nonlinear interactions between hetons. Hetons are baroclinic structures consisting of two vortices of opposite sign lying at different depths. Hetons are long-lived. They most often translate (they can sometimes rotate) and therefore they can noticeably contribute to the transport of scalar properties in the oceans. Heton interactions can interrupt this translation and thus this transport, by inducing a reconfiguration of interacting hetons into more complex baroclinic multipoles. More specifically, we study here the general case of two hetons, which collide with an offset between their translation axes. For this purpose, we use the point vortex theory, the ellipsoidal vortex model and direct simulations in the three-dimensional quasi-geostrophic contour surgery model. More specifically, this paper shows that there are in general three regimes for the interaction. For small horizontal offsets between the hetons, their vortices recombine as same-depth dipoles which escape at an angle. The angle depends in particular on the horizontal offset. It is a right angle for no offset, and the angle is shallower for small but finite offsets. The second limiting regime is for large horizontal offsets where the two hetons remain the same hetonic structures but are deflected by the weaker mutual interaction. Finally, the intermediate regime is for moderate offsets. This is the regime where the formation of a metastable quadrupole is possible. The formation of this quadrupole greatly restrains transport. Indeed, it constrains the vortices to reside in a closed area. It is shown that the formation of such structures is enhanced by the quasi-periodic deformation of the vortices. Indeed, these structures are nearly unobtainable for singular vortices (point vortices) but may be obtained using deformable, finite-core vortices.

Relatório de Estágio

O presente relatório de qualificação profissional surge no âmbito da Unidade Curricular de Prática Pedagógica Supervisionada, integrada no plano de estudos do mestrado em Educação Pré-Escolar e Ensino do 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico e configura-se como requisito parcial para a obtenção de grau de mestre. Pretende-se, deste modo, que o mesmo evidencie o percurso formativo da mestranda de forma refletida e indagadora das experiências e competências desenvolvidas nos dois níveis de educação, com vista à construção de um perfil duplo. O documento integra os pressupostos teóricos e legais que fundamentam a prática pedagógica da mestranda em ambos os níveis educativos assim como a forma como estes foram mobilizados para a prática pedagógica, as características inerentes ao contexto educativo e os conhecimentos obtidos ao longo da mesma acerca das crianças e das suas individualidades e do meio envolvente. A metodologia de investigação-ação constituiu um pilar no decorrer da intervenção pedagógica, encontrando-se espelhada ao longo do presente relatório de estágio. Deste modo, a prática da mestranda obedeceu a um processo rigoroso assente na articulação das etapas inerentes à metodologia evidenciada: observação, planificação, ação, reflexão e avaliação. Esta metodologia permitiu melhorar e enriquecer as intervenções pedagógicas, possibilitando um olhar crítico e indagador não só acerca das práticas mas igualmente sobre a Educação Pré-Escolar e Ensino do 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico, de uma forma mais geral. Face ao indicado, a realização do estágio profissionalizante, desenvolvido em ambos os contextos educativos caracterizou-se por ser a força motriz para que a mestranda desenvolvesse competências pessoais e profissionais inerentes a um perfil docente duplo, construindo, desta forma, as primeiras etapas de um processo evolutivo e de aprendizagem gradual e constante compreendendo, assim, a importância e exigência de educar

Mapping tissue inhomogeneity in acute myocarditis: a novel analytical approach to quantitative myocardial edema imaging by T2-mapping

BACKGROUND: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the diagnostic value of T2-mapping in acute myocarditis (ACM) and to define cut-off values for edema detection. METHODS: Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) data of 31 patients with ACM were retrospectively analyzed. 30 healthy volunteers (HV) served as a control. Additionally to the routine CMR protocol, T2-mapping data were acquired at 1.5 T using a breathhold Gradient-Spin-Echo T2-mapping sequence in six short axis slices. T2-maps were segmented according to the 16-segments AHA-model and segmental T2 values as well as the segmental pixel-standard deviation (SD) were analyzed. RESULTS: Mean differences of global myocardial T2 or pixel-SD between HV and ACM patients were only small, lying in the normal range of HV. In contrast, variation of segmental T2 values and pixel-SD was much larger in ACM patients compared to HV. In random forests and multiple logistic regression analyses, the combination of the highest segmental T2 value within each patient (maxT2) and the mean absolute deviation (MAD) of log-transformed pixel-SD (madSD) over all 16 segments within each patient proved to be the best discriminators between HV and ACM patients with an AUC of 0.85 in ROC-analysis. In classification trees, a combined cut-off of 0.22 for madSD and of 68 ms for maxT2 resulted in 83% specificity and 81% sensitivity for detection of ACM. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed cut-off values for maxT2 and madSD in the setting of ACM allow edema detection with high sensitivity and specificity and therefore have the potential to overcome the hurdles of T2-mapping for its integration into clinical routine.

Analyses of permeability and porosity of sedimentary rocks in terms of unconventional geothermal resource explorations in Poland

Petrophysical investigations are fundamental to natural resource exploration. In order to recognise the geothermal potential of sedimentary rocks in central Poland, 259 samples were collected from prospective deep-lying geothermal reservoirs. Parameters measured include bulk density, skeletal density, effective porosity, permeability, average pore diameter and specific surface. Results indicate that at great depths (mostly > 3,000 m below surface) sedimentary rocks show low values of porosity (mainly less than 5%) and permeability (only sporadically in excess of 1 md). These values call for a petrothermal use of reservoirs, for which an Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) was developed. Reser- voirs suited for the EGS are Carboniferous and Lower Triassic sandstones in the central part of Poland (Mogilno-Łódź Trough region and a small part of the Kujawy Swell and Fore-Sudetic regions). In addition, Carboniferous limestones in this area are potentially prospective.

Development of an electrochemical biosensor for the detection of miRNA-155 in Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is one of the most prevalent forms of cancer in women. Despite all recent advances in early diagnosis and therapy, mortality data is not decreasing. This is an outcome of the inexistence of validated serum biomarkers allowing an early prognosis, out coming from the limited understanding of the natural history of the disease. In this context, miRNAs have been attracting a special interest throughout the scientific community as promising biomarkers in the early diagnosis of cancer. In breast cancer, several miRNAs and their levels of expression are significantly different between normal tissue and tissue with neoplasia, as well as between different molecular subtypes of breast cancer, also associated with prognosis. Thus, this these presents a meta-analysis that allows identifying a reliable miRNA biomarker for the early detection of breast cancer. In this, miRNA-155 was identified as the best one and an electrochemical biosensor was developed for its detection in serum samples. The biosensor was assembled by following three button-up stages: (1) the complementary miRNA sequence thiol terminated (anti-miRNA-155) was immobilized on a commercial gold screen-printed electrode (Au-SPE), followed by (2) blocking non-specific binding with mercaptosuccinic acid and by (3) miRNA hybridization. The biosensor was able to detect miRNA concentrations lying in the 10-18 mol/L (aM) range, displaying a linear response from 10 aM to 1nM. The device showed a limit of detection of 5.7 aM in human serum samples and good selectivity against other biomolecules in serum, such as cancer antigen CA-15.3 and bovine serum albumin (BSA). Overall, this simple and sensitive strategy is a promising approach for the quantitative and/or simultaneous analysis of multiple miRNA in physiological fluids, aiming at further biomedical research devoted to biomarker monitoring and point-of-care diagnosis.