Guests at a ‘Witches’ Sabbath’: The Travels of the German Social Democrats Karl Liebknecht and Carl Legien in America

In the years preceding the First World War, Carl Legien and Karl Liebknecht represented two opposing wings of the German Social Democratic Party: Liebknecht was a prominent left-wing activist, urging the party to stay true to its revolutionary ideals, while Legien, a leading trade unionist, fought for a course of strictly practical social reform. In 1910 and 1912 respectively, these two men travelled extensively in the United States of America, lecturing in public on political matters. In looking closely at Liebknecht’s and Legien’s experiences and public statements, the paper discusses the relevance of international contacts between like-minded political movements for their respective development. It also contributes to the history of European anti-Americanism by showing how two German Social Democrats, who had been invited to America in order to foster the cause of socialism in the USA, each failed to comprehend in the course of their travels even the most basic characteristics of American society.In the years preceding the First World War, Carl Legien and Karl Liebknecht represented two opposing wings of the German Social Democratic Party: Liebknecht was a prominent left-wing activist, urging the party to stay true to its revolutionary ideals, while Legien, a leading trade unionist, fought for a course of strictly practical social reform. In 1910 and 1912 respectively, these two men travelled extensively in the United States of America, lecturing in public on political matters. In looking closely at Liebknecht’s and Legien’s experiences and public statements, the paper discusses the relevance of international contacts between like-minded political movements for their respective development. It also contributes to the history of European anti-Americanism by showing how two German Social Democrats, who had been invited to America in order to foster the cause of socialism in the USA, each failed to comprehend in the course of their travels even the most basic characteristics of American society

Multiscale modeling in micromagnetics: Existence of solutions and numerical integration

Various applications ranging from spintronic devices, giant magnetoresistance sensors, and magnetic storage devices, include magnetic parts on very different length scales. Since the consideration of the Landau–Lifshitz–Gilbert equation (LLG) constrains the maximum element size to the exchange length within the media, it is numerically not attractive to simulate macroscopic parts with this approach. On the other hand, the magnetostatic Maxwell equations do not constrain the element size, but cannot describe the short-range exchange interaction accurately. A combination of both methods allows one to describe magnetic domains within the micromagnetic regime by use of LLG and also considers the macroscopic parts by a nonlinear material law using the Maxwell equations. In our work, we prove that under certain assumptions on the nonlinear material law, this multiscale version of LLG admits weak solutions. Our proof is constructive in the sense that we provide a linear-implicit numerical integrator for the multiscale model such that the numerically computable finite element solutions admit weak H1-convergence (at least for a subsequence) towards a weak solution

Synthesis and Characterization of Supported Mixed MoW Carbide Catalysts

For mixed MoW carbide catalysts, the relationship between synthesis conditions, evolution of (mixed) phases, extent of mixing, and catalytic performance of supported Mo/W carbides remains unclear. In this study, we prepared a series of carbon nanofiber-supported mixed Mo/W-carbide catalysts with varying Mo and W compositions using either temperature-programmed reduction (TPR) or carbothermal reduction (CR). Regardless of the synthesis method, all bimetallic catalysts (Mo:W bulk ratios of 1:3, 1:1, and 3:1) were mixed at the nanoscale, although the Mo/W ratio in individual nanoparticles varied from the expected bulk values. Moreover, the crystal structures of the produced phases and nanoparticle sizes differed depending on the synthesis method. When using the TPR method, a cubic carbide (MeC1–x) phase with 3–4 nm nanoparticles was obtained, while a hexagonal phase (Me2C) with 4–5 nm nanoparticles was found when using the CR method. The TPR-synthesized carbides exhibited higher activity for the hydrodeoxygenation of fatty acids, tentatively attributed to a combination of crystal structure and particle size

Tuning Ligand Effects and Probing the Inner-Workings of Bond Activation Steps: Generation of Ruthenium Complexes with Tailor-Made Properties

Activating chemical bonds through external triggers and understanding the underlying mechanism are at the heart of developing molecules with catalytic and switchable functions. Thermal, photochemical, and electrochemical bond activation pathways are useful for many chemical reactions. In this Article, a series of Ru^II complexes containing a bidentate and a tripodal ligand were synthesized. Starting from all-pyridine complex <b>1</b>²⁺, the pyridines were stepwise substituted with “click” triazoles (<b>2</b>²⁺–<b>7</b>²⁺). Whereas the thermo- and photoreactivity of <b>1</b>²⁺ are due to steric repulsion within the equatorial plane of the complex, <b>3</b>²⁺–<b>6</b>²⁺ are reactive because of triazoles in axial positions, and <b>4</b>²⁺ shows unprecedented photoreactivity. Complexes that feature neither steric interactions nor axial triazoles (<b>2</b>²⁺ and <b>7</b>²⁺) do not show any reactivity. Furthermore, a redox-triggered conversion mechanism was discovered in <b>1</b>²⁺, <b>3</b>²⁺, and <b>4</b>²⁺. We show here ligand design principles required to convert a completely inert molecule to a reactive one and vice versa, and provide mechanistic insights into their functioning. The results presented here will likely have consequences for developing a future generation of catalysts, sensors, and molecular switches

Tuning Ligand Effects and Probing the Inner-Workings of Bond Activation Steps: Generation of Ruthenium Complexes with Tailor-Made Properties

Activating chemical bonds through external triggers and understanding the underlying mechanism are at the heart of developing molecules with catalytic and switchable functions. Thermal, photochemical, and electrochemical bond activation pathways are useful for many chemical reactions. In this Article, a series of Ru^II complexes containing a bidentate and a tripodal ligand were synthesized. Starting from all-pyridine complex <b>1</b>²⁺, the pyridines were stepwise substituted with “click” triazoles (<b>2</b>²⁺–<b>7</b>²⁺). Whereas the thermo- and photoreactivity of <b>1</b>²⁺ are due to steric repulsion within the equatorial plane of the complex, <b>3</b>²⁺–<b>6</b>²⁺ are reactive because of triazoles in axial positions, and <b>4</b>²⁺ shows unprecedented photoreactivity. Complexes that feature neither steric interactions nor axial triazoles (<b>2</b>²⁺ and <b>7</b>²⁺) do not show any reactivity. Furthermore, a redox-triggered conversion mechanism was discovered in <b>1</b>²⁺, <b>3</b>²⁺, and <b>4</b>²⁺. We show here ligand design principles required to convert a completely inert molecule to a reactive one and vice versa, and provide mechanistic insights into their functioning. The results presented here will likely have consequences for developing a future generation of catalysts, sensors, and molecular switches

Tuning Ligand Effects and Probing the Inner-Workings of Bond Activation Steps: Generation of Ruthenium Complexes with Tailor-Made Properties

Activating chemical bonds through external triggers and understanding the underlying mechanism are at the heart of developing molecules with catalytic and switchable functions. Thermal, photochemical, and electrochemical bond activation pathways are useful for many chemical reactions. In this Article, a series of Ru^II complexes containing a bidentate and a tripodal ligand were synthesized. Starting from all-pyridine complex <b>1</b>²⁺, the pyridines were stepwise substituted with “click” triazoles (<b>2</b>²⁺–<b>7</b>²⁺). Whereas the thermo- and photoreactivity of <b>1</b>²⁺ are due to steric repulsion within the equatorial plane of the complex, <b>3</b>²⁺–<b>6</b>²⁺ are reactive because of triazoles in axial positions, and <b>4</b>²⁺ shows unprecedented photoreactivity. Complexes that feature neither steric interactions nor axial triazoles (<b>2</b>²⁺ and <b>7</b>²⁺) do not show any reactivity. Furthermore, a redox-triggered conversion mechanism was discovered in <b>1</b>²⁺, <b>3</b>²⁺, and <b>4</b>²⁺. We show here ligand design principles required to convert a completely inert molecule to a reactive one and vice versa, and provide mechanistic insights into their functioning. The results presented here will likely have consequences for developing a future generation of catalysts, sensors, and molecular switches

Phase 3 Trial of Selpercatinib in Advanced RET-Mutant Medullary Thyroid Cancer

Background Selpercatinib, a highly selective, potent RET inhibitor, has shown efficacy in advanced RET-mutant medullary thyroid cancer in a phase 1-2 trial, but its efficacy as compared with approved multikinase inhibitors is unclear.Methods We conducted a phase 3, randomized trial comparing selpercatinib as first-line therapy with the physician's choice of cabozantinib or vandetanib (control group). Eligible patients had progressive disease documented within 14 months before enrollment. The primary end point in the protocol-specified interim efficacy analysis was progression-free survival, assessed by blinded independent central review. Crossover to selpercatinib was permitted among patients in the control group after disease progression. Treatment failure-free survival, assessed by blinded independent central review, was a secondary, alpha-controlled end point that was to be tested only if progression-free survival was significant. Among the other secondary end points were overall response and safety.Results A total of 291 patients underwent randomization. At a median follow-up of 12 months, median progression-free survival as assessed by blinded independent central review was not reached in the selpercatinib group and was 16.8 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 12.2 to 25.1) in the control group (hazard ratio for disease progression or death, 0.28; 95% CI, 0.16 to 0.48; P&lt;0.001). Progression-free survival at 12 months was 86.8% (95% CI, 79.8 to 91.6) in the selpercatinib group and 65.7% (95% CI, 51.9 to 76.4) in the control group. Median treatment failure-free survival as assessed by blinded independent central review was not reached in the selpercatinib group and was 13.9 months in the control group (hazard ratio for disease progression, discontinuation due to treatment-related adverse events, or death, 0.25; 95% CI, 0.15 to 0.42; P&lt;0.001). Treatment failure-free survival at 12 months was 86.2% (95% CI, 79.1 to 91.0) in the selpercatinib group and 62.1% (95% CI, 48.9 to 72.8) in the control group. The overall response was 69.4% (95% CI, 62.4 to 75.8) in the selpercatinib group and 38.8% (95% CI, 29.1 to 49.2) in the control group. Adverse events led to a dose reduction in 38.9% of the patients in the selpercatinib group, as compared with 77.3% in the control group, and to treatment discontinuation in 4.7% and 26.8%, respectively.Conclusions Selpercatinib treatment resulted in superior progression-free survival and treatment failure-free survival as compared with cabozantinib or vandetanib in patients with RET-mutant medullary thyroid cancer. (Funded by Loxo Oncology, a subsidiary of Eli Lilly; LIBRETTO-531 ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT04211337.