The toxicity of cadmium and resulting hazards for human health

Cadmium (Cd) has been in industrial use for a long period of time. Its serious toxicity moved into scientific focus during the middle of the last century. In this review, we discuss historic and recent developments of toxicological and epidemiological questions, including exposition sources, resorption pathways and organ damage processes

Использование грейдинга в медиасфере

С помощью метода грейдинга разработана технология построения системы управления персоналом в медиасфере. Разработаны семь основных критериев для оценки должностей: навыки, образование, руководство, ответственность, вклад в результат (цена ошибки), коммуникационные навыки, вклад в обслуживание клиента. Предложена матрица грейдов и сетка окладов для организации. Показаны трудности внедрения системы грейдов

Magnetic Field Inhomogeneities and Their Influence on Transmission and Background at the KATRIN Main Spectrometer

The goal of the KATRIN experiment is to measure the absolute mass of the electron-antineutrino with a sensitivity of 200 meV by analyzing the shape of the tritium-beta-decay energy spectrum. The energy analysis is done with a large scale MAC-E filter (magnetic adiabatic collimation and electrostatic filter) with a magnetic field of 0.3 mT in the analyzing plane. This work investigates small disturbances of the magnetic field influencing the transmission and background properties of the setup

Upgrade of the ultracold neutron source at the pulsed reactor TRIGA Mainz

The performance of the upgraded solid deuterium ultracold neutron source at the pulsed reactor TRIGA Mainz is described. The current configuration stage comprises the installation of a He liquefier to run UCN experiments over long-term periods, the use of stainless steel neutron guides with improved transmission as well as sputter-coated non-magnetic $^{58}$NiMo alloy at the inside walls of the thermal bridge and the converter cup. The UCN yield was measured in a `standard' UCN storage bottle (stainless steel) with a volume of 32 litres outside the biological shield at the experimental area yielding UCN densities of 8.5 /cm$^3$; an increase by a factor of 3.5 compared to the former setup. The measured UCN storage curve is in good agreement with the predictions from a Monte Carlo simulation developed to model the source. The growth and formation of the solid deuterium converter during freeze-out are affected by the ortho/para ratio of the H$_2$ premoderator.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure

Particle filters for high‐dimensional geoscience applications: a review

Particle filters contain the promise of fully nonlinear data assimilation. They have been applied in numerous science areas, including the geosciences, but their application to high-dimensional geoscience systems has been limited due to their inefficiency in high-dimensional systems in standard settings. However, huge progress has been made, and this limitation is disappearing fast due to recent developments in proposal densities, the use of ideas from (optimal) transportation, the use of localization and intelligent adaptive resampling strategies. Furthermore, powerful hybrids between particle filters and ensemble Kalman filters and variational methods have been developed. We present a state-of-the-art discussion of present efforts of developing particle filters for high-dimensional nonlinear geoscience state-estimation problems, with an emphasis on atmospheric and oceanic applications, including many new ideas, derivations and unifications, highlighting hidden connections, including pseudo-code, and generating a valuable tool and guide for the community. Initial experiments show that particle filters can be competitive with present-day methods for numerical weather prediction, suggesting that they will become mainstream soon

Risk Management Core -- Towards an Explicit Representation of Risk in Automated Driving

While current automotive safety standards provide implicit guidance on how unreasonable risk can be avoided, manufacturers are required to specify risk acceptance criteria for automated driving systems (SAE Level 3+). However, the 'unreasonable' level of risk of automated driving systems (SAE Level 3+) is not yet concisely defined. Solely applying current safety standards to such novel systems could potentially not be sufficient for their acceptance. As risk is managed with implicit knowledge about safety measures in existing automotive standards, an explicit alignment with risk acceptance criteria is challenging. Hence, we propose an approach for an explicit representation and management of risk, which we call the Risk Management Core. The proposal of this process framework is based on requirements elicited from current safety standards and apply the Risk Management Core to the task of specifying safe behavior for an automated driving system in an example scenario.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figure

In situ functionalization of graphene

While the basal plane of graphene is inert, defects in it are centers of chemical activity. An attractive application of such defects is towards controlled functionalization of graphene with foreign molecules. However, the interaction of the defects with reactive environment, such as ambient, decreases the efficiency of functionalization and makes it poorly controlled. Here, we report a novel approach to generate, monitor with time resolution, and functionalize the defects in situ without ever exposing them to the ambient. The defects are generated by an energetic argon plasma and their properties are monitored using in situ Raman spectroscopy. We find that these defects are functional, very reactive, and strongly change their density from ≈1 × 1013 cm−2 to ≈5 × 1011 cm−2 upon exposure to air. We perform the proof of principle in situ functionalization by generating defects using the argon plasma and functionalizing them in situ using ammonia functional. The functionalization induces the n-doping with a carrier density up to 5 × 1012 cm−2 in graphene and remains stable in ambient conditions

The patterning toolbox FIB-o-mat: Exploiting the full potential of focused helium ions for nanofabrication

Focused beams of helium ions are a powerful tool for high-fidelity machining with spatial precision below 5 nm. Achieving such a high patterning precision over large areas and for different materials in a reproducible manner, however, is not trivial. Here, we introduce the Python toolbox FIB-o-mat for automated pattern creation and optimization, providing full flexibility to accomplish demanding patterning tasks. FIB-o-mat offers high-level pattern creation, enabling high-fidelity large-area patterning and systematic variations in geometry and raster settings. It also offers low-level beam path creation, providing full control over the beam movement and including sophisticated optimization tools. Three applications showcasing the potential of He ion beam nanofabrication for two-dimensional material systems and devices using FIB-o-mat are presented