Fracture and Fragmentation of Silicon Dies

Different failure modes of silicon are observed. Experimental results are not able to explain these variations clearly and therefore numerical simulations have been performed. In order to reduce high computational costs a simplified method to introduce weakened areas on silicon chips is presented. (© 2010 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Intra‐laser‐cavity microparticle sensing with a dual‐wavelength distributed‐feedback laser

An integrated intra‐laser‐cavity microparticle sensor based on a dual‐wavelength distributed‐feedback channel waveguide laser in ytterbium‐doped amorphous aluminum oxide on a silicon substrate is demonstrated. Real‐time detection and accurate size measurement of single micro‐particles with diameters ranging between 1 µm and 20 µm are achieved, which represent the typical sizes of many fungal and bacterial pathogens as well as a large variety of human cells. A limit of detection of ∼500 nm is deduced. The sensing principle relies on measuring changes in the frequency difference between the two longitudinal laser modes as the evanescent field of the dual‐wavelength laser interacts with micro‐sized particles on the surface of the waveguide. Improvement in sensitivity far down to the nanometer range can be expected upon stabilizing the pump power, minimizing back reflections, and optimizing the grating geometry to increase the evanescent fraction of the guided modes.     

Biaryl amino acid templates in place of D-Pro-L-Pro in cyclic beta-hairpin cationic antimicrobial peptidomimetics

The turn-forming D-Pro-L-Pro template has been frequently used to promote regular beta-hairpin conformations in cyclic protein epitope mimetics. Here the use of three isomeric biaryl templates has been studied as alternatives to D-Pro-L-Pro in the preparation of beta-hairpin peptidomimetics. The o,o'- o,m'- and m,m'-isomers of carboxymethyl- and aminomethyl-substituted biaryl templates have been incorporated into novel macrocyclic mimics of the naturally occurring cationic antimicrobial peptide protegrin I. The presence of the o-carboxymethyl-o'-aminomethyl-biaryl template within the macrocyclic peptide resulted in the appearance of slowly interconverting atropisomers. Although none of the resulting mimetics adopted stable beta-hairpin structures in aqueous solution, they all nevertheless retained a significant antimicrobial activity against Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria. These mimetics provide interesting starting points for an optimization program in the search for potent and novel antimicrobial compounds.     

Structure-activity-based design of a synthetic malaria peptide eliciting sporozoite inhibitory antibodies in a virosomal formulation

The circumsporozoite protein (CSP) of Plasmodium falciparum is a leading candidate antigen for inclusion in a malaria subunit vaccine. We describe here the design of a conformationally constrained synthetic peptide, designated UK-39, which has structural and antigenic similarity to the NPNA-repeat region of native CSP. NMR studies on the antigen support the presence of helical turn-like structures within consecutive NPNA motifs in aqueous solution. Intramuscular delivery of UK-39 to mice and rabbits on the surface of reconstituted influenza virosomes elicited high titers of sporozoite crossreactive antibodies. Influenza virus proteins were crucially important for the immunostimulatory activity of the virosome-based antigen delivery system, as a liposomal formulation of UK-39 was not immunogenic. IgG antibodies elicited by UK-39 inhibited invasion of hepatocytes by P. falciparum sporozoites, but not by antigenically distinct P. yoelii sporozoites. Our approach to optimized virosome-formulated synthetic peptide vaccines should be generally applicable for other infectious and noninfectious diseases.     

A Model for Kidney Tissue Damage under High Speed Loading

In a medical procedure to comminute kidney stones the patient is subjected to hypersonic waves focused at the stone. Unfortunately such shock waves also damage the surrounding kidney tissue. We present here a model for the mechanical response of the soft tissue to such a high speed loading regime. The material model combines shear induced plasticity with irreversible volumetric expansion as induced, e.g., by cavitating bubbles. The theory is based on a multiplicative decomposition of the deformation gradient and on an internal variable formulation of continuum thermodynamics. By the use of logarithmic and exponential mappings the stress update algorithms are extended from small‐strain to the finite deformation range. In that way the time‐discretized version of the porous‐viscoplastic constitutive updates is described in a fully variational manner. By numerical experiments we study the shock‐wave propagation into the tissue and analyze the resulting stress states. A first finite element simulation shows localized damage in the human kidney. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Gleichgewichtsdruckmessungen im System Se/O/Br

Equilibrium Pressure Measurements in the System Se/O/Br The saturation pressure or saturation decomposition pressure of SeOBr_2,l, Se₂Br_2,l and SeBr_4,s were determined in a membran zero manometer. The decomposition behaviour follows from pressure measurements outside of saturation. From the equilibrium data are derived the Enthalpies of formation: Data see Inhaltsübersicht. Informations about the melting diagrams obtained via the barograms of the condensed compositions SeO₂/SeBr₄ and Se/Br.