Ti-Al composite wires with high specific strength

An alternative deformation technique was applied to a composite made of titanium and an aluminium alloy in order to achieve severe plastic deformation. This involves accumulative swaging and bundling. Furthermore, it allows uniform deformation of a composite material while producing a wire which can be further used easily. Detailed analysis concerning the control of the deformation process, mesostructural and microstructural features and tensile testing was carried out on the as produced wires. A strong grain refinement to a grain size of 250–500 nm accompanied by a decrease in h111i fibre texture component and a change from low angle to high angle grain boundary characteristics is observed in the Al alloy. A strong increase in the mechanical properties in terms of ultimate tensile strength ranging from 600 to 930 MPa being equivalent to a specific strength of up to 223 MPa/g/cm3 was achieved

What scans we will read: imaging instrumentation trends in clinical oncology

Oncological diseases account for a significant portion of the burden on public healthcare systems with associated costs driven primarily by complex and long-lasting therapies. Through the visualization of patient-specific morphology and functional-molecular pathways, cancerous tissue can be detected and characterized non- invasively, so as to provide referring oncologists with essential information to support therapy management decisions. Following the onset of stand-alone anatomical and functional imaging, we witness a push towards integrating molecular image information through various methods, including anato-metabolic imaging (e.g., PET/ CT), advanced MRI, optical or ultrasound imaging. This perspective paper highlights a number of key technological and methodological advances in imaging instrumentation related to anatomical, functional, molecular medicine and hybrid imaging, that is understood as the hardware-based combination of complementary anatomical and molecular imaging. These include novel detector technologies for ionizing radiation used in CT and nuclear medicine imaging, and novel system developments in MRI and optical as well as opto-acoustic imaging. We will also highlight new data processing methods for improved non-invasive tissue characterization. Following a general introduction to the role of imaging in oncology patient management we introduce imaging methods with well-defined clinical applications and potential for clinical translation. For each modality, we report first on the status quo and point to perceived technological and methodological advances in a subsequent status go section. Considering the breadth and dynamics of these developments, this perspective ends with a critical reflection on where the authors, with the majority of them being imaging experts with a background in physics and engineering, believe imaging methods will be in a few years from now. Overall, methodological and technological medical imaging advances are geared towards increased image contrast, the derivation of reproducible quantitative parameters, an increase in volume sensitivity and a reduction in overall examination time. To ensure full translation to the clinic, this progress in technologies and instrumentation is complemented by progress in relevant acquisition and image-processing protocols and improved data analysis. To this end, we should accept diagnostic images as “data”, and – through the wider adoption of advanced analysis, including machine learning approaches and a “big data” concept – move to the next stage of non-invasive tumor phenotyping. The scans we will be reading in 10 years from now will likely be composed of highly diverse multi- dimensional data from multiple sources, which mandate the use of advanced and interactive visualization and analysis platforms powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) for real-time data handling by cross-specialty clinical experts with a domain knowledge that will need to go beyond that of plain imaging

Analysis of the crystal electric field parameters of YbNi₄P₂

The crystal electric field (CEF) scheme ofYbNi(4)P(2) is determined, based on experimental data from inelastic neutron scattering, heat capacity, susceptibility and NMR measurements. Despite the tetragonal crystal structure, 9 parameters are needed to describe the crystal field in YbNi4P2 due to the orthorhombic site symmetry of the Yb ion. A large basal plane anisotropy is detected by the local probe NMR. Our analysis yields CEF excitation energies of 8.5, 12.5 and roughly 30 meV and a ground state wave function that is dominated by the 5/2 state. Furthermore, we present an analysis of the CEF scheme based on density functional theory calculations, which confirms the large basal plane anisotropy