Schepeneses mumifizierte Organe

Four mysterious packages were found on the abdomen and legs of the mummy of Schepenese when she was unwrapped in 1993. Here we show by chemical analysis that at least one of them contains human tissue, presumably the intestines, sodium chloride, bitumen ans sand. The composition of a sample is to 85% of organic origin (about 71% human tissue and 14% bitumen), about 9% is common salt and 6% is desert sand. It is concluded that Schepenese's viscera were preserved with common salt and bitumen. Trace analysis displays enhanced values of molybdenum. The occurrence of this metal is linked to bitumen used for mummification

Primordial nucleosynthesis as a probe of fundamental physics parameters

We analyze the effect of variation of fundamental couplings and mass scales on primordial nucleosynthesis in a systematic way. The first step establishes the response of primordial element abundances to the variation of a large number of nuclear physics parameters, including nuclear binding energies. We find a strong influence of the n-p mass difference (for the 4He abundance), of the nucleon mass (for deuterium) and of A=3,4,7 binding energies (for 3He, 6Li and 7Li). A second step relates the nuclear parameters to the parameters of the Standard Model of particle physics. The deuterium, and, above all, 7Li abundances depend strongly on the average light quark mass hat{m} \equiv (m_u+m_d)/2. We calculate the behaviour of abundances when variations of fundamental parameters obey relations arising from grand unification. We also discuss the possibility of a substantial shift in the lithium abundance while the deuterium and 4He abundances are only weakly affected.Comment: v2: 34 pages, 2 figures, typo in last GUT scenario corrected, added discussion and graph of nonlinear behaviour in GUT scenarios, added short section discussing binding of dineutron and 8Be, refs added, conclusions unaltered. Accepted for publication, Phys. Rev.

Korrelation von Analysemethoden

Unter dem Ausdruck „korrelative Mikroskopie“ versteht man eine Verbindung zwischen den mikroskopischen Methoden der Licht- (LM) und der Rasterelektronenmikroskopie (REM). Am Institute of Materials and Process Engineering der ZHAW wurde die korrelative Mikroskopie nun so stark erweitert, dass es möglich wurde, weitere Analysemethoden in eine „korrelative Analytik“ einzubinden. Deshalb soll die erweiterte Methode hier anschaulich anhand verschiedener Beispiele dargelegt werden. Diese Methode macht es möglich, ein und dieselbe Stelle einer Probe mit unterschiedlichen Analysemethoden zu untersuchen. Der Fokus dieses Beitrags liegt auf dem enormen Potential, die Methode selber wird nur soweit behandelt, wie es für das Verständnis der Beispiele nötig ist

Wear mechanism on components under industrial load collectives

In recent years, the loads on the tools for ultrasonic metal welding have increased due to the ever‐larger conductor cross‐sections and the increased complexity of the workpieces. The ever‐shorter cycle times boost this effect. As a result, the requirements on the service life of the tools, for example that of the anvil, are also increasing. Since the industrial load collective on a tool during the ultrasonic metal welding process is very complex, optimisation of tools requires detailed failure analyses as a reliable starting point. For this reason, present research deals with such a systematic failure analysis of the anvil. Hence, the wear mechanism could be clearly clarified, namely it is abrasion. Further, the subordinate mechanism of the abrasive wear is micro‐ploughing. The described research project was carried out in cooperation with the company Telsonic AG. Ultrasonic metal welding is an important business, as it is increasingly used in the production of connections in cable harnesses and highvoltage batteries for electric vehicles

Snow variability in the Swiss Alps 1864-2009

We present a climate analysis of nine unique Swiss Alpine new snow series that have been newly digitized. The stations cover different altitudes (450–1860 m asl) and all time series cover more than 100 years (one from 1864 to 2009). In addition, data from 71 stations for the last 50–80 years for new snow and snow depth are analysed to get a more complete picture of the Swiss Alpine snow variability. Important snow climate indicators such as new snow sums (NSS), maximum new snow (MAXNS) and days with snowfall (DWSF) are calculated and variability and trends analysed. Series of days with snow pack (DWSP) ≥ 1 cm are reconstructed with useful quality for six stations using the daily new snow, local temperature and precipitation data. Our results reveal large decadal variability with phases of low and high values for NSS, DWSF and DWSP. For most stations NSS, DWSF and DWSP show the lowest values recorded and unprecedented negative trends in the late 1980s and 1990s. For MAXNS, however, no clear trends and smaller decadal variability are found but very large MAXNS values (>60 cm) are missing since the year 2000. The fraction of NSS and DWSP in different seasons (autumn, winter and spring) has changed only slightly over the ∼150 year record. Some decreases most likely attributable to temperature changes in the last 50 years are found for spring, especially for NSS at low stations. Both the NSS and DWSP snow indicators show a trend reversal in most recent years (since 2000), especially at low and medium altitudes. This is consistent with the recent ‘plateauing’ (i.e. slight relative decrease) of mean winter temperature in Switzerland and illustrates how important decadal variability is in understanding the trends in key snow indicators

Monitoring Solid-Phase Reactions in Self-Assembled Monolayers by Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy

Nanopatterned surfaces enhance incident electromagnetic radiation and thereby enable the detection and characterization of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs), for instance in surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). Herein, Au nanohole arrays, developed and characterized as SERS substrates, are exemplarily used for monitoring a solid-phase deprotection and a subsequent copper(I)-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition "click" reaction, performed directly on the corresponding SAMs. The SERS substrate was found to be highly reliable in terms of signal reproducibility and chemical stability. Furthermore, the intermediates and the product of the solid-phase synthesis were identified by SERS. The spectra of the immobilized compounds showed minor differences compared to spectra of the microcrystalline solids. With its uniform SERS signals and the high chemical stability, the platform paves the way for monitoring molecular manipulations in surface functionalization applications

Monitoring Solid-Phase Reactions in Self-Assembled Monolayers by Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy

Nanopatterned surfaces enhance incident electromagnetic radiation and thereby enable the detection and characterization of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs), for instance in surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). Herein, Au nanohole arrays, developed and characterized as SERS substrates, are exemplarily used for monitoring a solid-phase deprotection and a subsequent copper(I)-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition "click" reaction, performed directly on the corresponding SAMs. The SERS substrate was found to be highly reliable in terms of signal reproducibility and chemical stability. Furthermore, the intermediates and the product of the solid-phase synthesis were identified by SERS. The spectra of the immobilized compounds showed minor differences compared to spectra of the microcrystalline solids. With its uniform SERS signals and the high chemical stability, the platform paves the way for monitoring molecular manipulations in surface functionalization applications