"Biographie und Geschlecht": Workshop am 04.07.2011 an der Friedrich-Schiller-Universität in Jena

"Die Herausforderung, die Lebensgeschichten von Frauen und Männern mit biographischen Methoden zu erforschen, stand im Mittelpunkt des ersten Workshops 'Biographie und Geschlecht' am 04.07.2011 in Jena. Organisiert wurde der Workshop vom Lehrstuhl für Geschlechtergeschichte der Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena. Sein Ziel bestand darin, über die methodologischen und konzeptionellen Erfordernisse, Problemlagen sowie Lösungsvorschläge zum Thema 'Biographie und Geschlecht' zu informieren und über die interdisziplinären Vorträge zum Austausch darüber beizutragen, wie die neuere Biographieforschung und die Geschlechterforschung miteinander zu verbinden sind. Die neun Vorträge zeigten schnell die Brisanz der Thematik und die Relevanz biographie-analytischer Zugänge zur Erforschung von historischen Geschlechterthemen in differenten Fachbereichen." (Autorenreferat)"The challenge of exploring the life stories of women and men using biographical methods was the focus of the first workshop on Biography and Gender in Jena on 4 July 2011. The workshop was organised by the Chair for Gender History at the University of Jena. The aim of the workshop was to provide information on the methodological and conceptual requirements, problems and solutions to issues raised by biography and gender, and, inspired by the interdisciplinary lectures, to contribute to sharing ideas about how recent biographical research and gender studies can be combined. The nine papers quickly showed how explosive the issue is and how relevant analytical approaches to biography are to historical gender research in different fields." (author's abstract

On the contact detection for contact-impact analysis in multibody systems

One of the most important and complex parts of the simulation of multibody systems with contact-impact involves the detection of the precise instant of impact. In general, the periods of contact are very small and, therefore, the selection of the time step for the integration of the time derivatives of the state variables plays a crucial role in the dynamics of multibody systems. The conservative approach is to use very small time steps throughout the analysis. However, this solution is not efficient from the computational view point. When variable time step integration algorithms are used and the pre-impact dynamics does not involve high-frequencies the integration algorithms may use larger time steps and the contact between two surfaces may start with initial penetrations that are artificially high. This fact leads either to a stall of the integration algorithm or to contact forces that are physically impossible which, in turn, lead to post-impact dynamics that is unrelated to the physical problem. The main purpose of this work is to present a general and comprehensive approach to automatically adjust the time step, in variable time step integration algorithms, in the vicinity of contact of multibody systems. The proposed methodology ensures that for any impact in a multibody system the time step of the integration is such that any initial penetration is below any prescribed threshold. In the case of the start of contact, and after a time step is complete, the numerical error control of the selected integration algorithm is forced to handle the physical criteria to accept/reject time steps in equal terms with the numerical error control that it normally uses. The main features of this approach are the simplicity of its computational implementation, its good computational efficiency and its ability to deal with the transitions between non contact and contact situations in multibody dynamics. A demonstration case provides the results that support the discussion and show the validity of the proposed methodology.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Extreme Biomimetics: Designing of the First Nanostructured 3D Spongin-Atacamite Composite and its Application

The design of new composite materials using extreme biomimetics is of crucial importance for bioinspired materials science. Further progress in research and application of these new materials is impossible without understanding the mechanisms of formation, as well as structural features at the molecular and nano-level. It presents a challenge to obtain a holistic understanding of the mechanisms underlying the interaction of organic and inorganic phases under conditions of harsh chemical reactions for biopolymers. Yet, an understanding of these mechanisms can lead to the development of unusual-but functional-hybrid materials. In this work, a key way of designing centimeter-scale macroporous 3D composites, using renewable marine biopolymer spongin and a model industrial solution that simulates the highly toxic copper-containing waste generated in the production of printed circuit boards worldwide, is proposed. A new spongin-atacamite composite material is developed and its structure is confirmed using neutron diffraction, X-ray diffraction, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy/selected-area electron diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy, and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. The formation mechanism for this material is also proposed. This study provides experimental evidence suggesting multifunctional applicability of the designed composite in the development of 3D constructed sensors, catalysts, and antibacterial filter systems

The European Photon Imaging Camera on XMM-Newton: The pn-CCD camera

The European Photon Imaging Camera (EPIC) consortium has provided the focal plane instruments for the three X-ray mirror systems on XMM-Newton. Two cameras with a reflecting grating spectrometer in the optical path are equipped with MOS type CCDs as focal plane detectors (Turner 2001), the telescope with the full photon flux operates the novel pn-CCD as an imaging X-ray spectrometer. The pn-CCD camera system was developed under the leadership of the Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik (MPE), Garching. The concept of the pn-CCD is described as well as the different operational modes of the camera system. The electrical, mechanical and thermal design of the focal plane and camera is briefly treated. The in-orbit performance is described in terms of energy resolution, quantum efficiency, time resolution, long term stability and charged particle background. Special emphasis is given to the radiation hardening of the devices and the measured and expected degradation due to radiation damage of ionizing particles in the first 9 months of in orbit operation