Internationalization Through Americanization

Based on Bourdieu’s concepts of sociology, this article explores the International Communication Association’s internationalization effort involving recruiting non-U.S. scholars into top positions. Therefore, it examines both the habitus and the capital of the 26 communication researchers from outside the United States who have been distinguished as ICA presidents and fellows. The study contributes to the discipline’s reflexivity and shows that despite the expansion of ICA’s leadership, the field’s power pole is still a U.S.-centered enterprise. Today, ICA’s international leadership is located in world regions closely linked to the United States and educated at U.S. universities or heavily influenced by North American research traditions, even if it includes a numerous contributions from other associations and alternative approaches. Consequently, this internationalization hardly changed ICA but instead changed the world’s communication field. At least up to a certain extent, new perspectives are perceived at the discipline’s power pole. However, in return, national academic environments in U.S.-affiliated countries became Americanized, especially via ICA fellows serving as role models to get scientific capital. Thus, ICA’s efforts to expand its leadership are assumed to have an unintended effect of conserving the power structures in the field

B cell subset distribution in human bone marrow is stable and similar in left and right femur: An instructive case

The bone marrow (BM) is, in addition to being the site of B cell development, a tissue that harbors long-lived plasma cells (PC), the cells that protect the body against foreign antigens by continuous production of antibodies. Nothing is known about the long-term stability and functionality of both B cells and PC in the BM at the individual donor level since repeated sampling possibilities outside of oncology are scarce. Here, we had the opportunity to obtain BM samples from a patient undergoing bilateral total hip arthroplasty half a year apart. We observed that the frequencies of the analyzed B cell and PC subsets were similar despite a time of six months in between and sampling on left and right side of the body. Additionally, B cell receptor stimulation led to comparable results. Our data suggest that composition and functionality of B cells are stable in the BM of adults at the individual donor level

Towards a Framework for Predictive Maintenance Strategies in Mechanical Engineering – A Method-Oriented Literature Analysis

Industrial machines are amongst Germany’s main export products and contribute to the increasing revenue of Mechanical Engineering. However, in the course of globalization, services for such machines have become costly and inflexible due to long distances between vendors and customers. Consequently, companies seek to avoid unexpected failures and long down times by the development of data-based “smart” service solutions, including Predictive Maintenance (PM). In contrast to reactive or preventive measures, PM refers to the proactive planning of required maintenance services based on data sampled from the machinery. Although PM has been conceptualized decades ago and various methods have been proposed ever since, there is no standard strategy. By analyzing existing literature, we shed light on the knowledge base in PM. We provide an overview of methods and discuss their respective context, including preconditions and applications. Our work constitutes a first step towards a framework that guides the implementation of PM-strategies

Design and realization of a sputter deposition system for the \textit{in situ-} and \textit{in operando-}use in polarized neutron reflectometry experiments

We report on the realization of a sputter deposition system for the in situ- and in operando-use in polarized neutron reflectometry experiments. Starting with the scientific requirements, which define the general design considerations, the external limitations and boundaries imposed by the available space at a neutron beamline and by the neutron and vacuum compatibility of the used materials, are assessed. The relevant aspects are then accounted for in the realization of our highly mobile deposition system, which was designed with a focus on a quick and simple installation and removability at the beamline. Apart from the general design, the in-vacuum components, the auxiliary equipment and the remote control via a computer, as well as relevant safety aspects are presented in detail.Comment: Submitted for publication in Nuclear Inst. and Methods in Physics Research, A. (1st revised version

The high-temperature transformation from 1T-to 3R-LixTiS2 (x=0.7, 0.9) as observed in situ with neutron powder diffraction

Layered titanium disulfide is used as lithium-ion intercalating electrode material in batteries. The room-temperature stable trigonal IT polymorphs of the intercalates LixTiS2(x <= 1) are widely-investigated. However, the rombohedral 3R polymorphs, being stable at higher temperatures for large x, are less well known. In this study, we report on the synthesis of phase-pure 1T-LixTiS2(x = 0.7, 0.9) and its transformation to the 3R phase between 673 and 873 K as monitored using high-temperature neutron powder diffractometry. For the 3R polymorph, full Rietveld refinements show lithium ions to be statistically distributed over octahedral voids at the fractional coordinates 0, 0, 1/2, exclusively. The comparison of Madelung energies with results of periodic quantum-chemical calculations reveals that the evolution of lattice parameters and the room-temperature stability of the IT phase are not governed by electrostatics, but by correlation and polarization. The insights gained do not only elucidate the structure of 3R-LixTiS2, but also help to understand and control polymorphism in layered transition-metal sulfides.DFG, FOR 1277, Mobilität von Lithiumionen in Festkörpern (molife

An Aminoisoxazole‐Based Proto‐RNA

The RNA world hypothesis predicts that life started with the development of replicating and catalytically active RNA, which evolved in a process of molecular evolution to increasingly complex chemical structures. RNA is, however, so complex that it has most likely formed from a precursor (proto-RNA) that was more easily accessible in a prebiotic world. Recently, 3-aminoisoxazoles (IO3) were identified as building blocks that can form under prebiotic conditions and can rearrange to give the nucleoside cytidine (C). The present study shows that the constitutional isomer 5-aminoisoxazole (IO5) can undergo the same reaction to give uridine (U). Both compounds (IO3 and IO5), if embedded in RNA, react selectively to C and U, which are the main pyrimidine nucleosides of the genetic system. Importantly, the stereochemical outcome of the IO5 reaction in RNA depends on the neighboring bases. If they are β-configured RNA nucleosides, the reaction proceeds with high selectivity to give exclusively the β-configured U RNA base (anomeric control)