MS-Schramberg (Germany)

<strong class="journal-contentHeaderColor">Abstract.</strong> A new modular multi-sensor aerological dropsonde system for high and fast-flying research aircraft has been developed for studying atmospheric processes. This new system allows to drop release containers with up to 4 sondes inside and data from up to 30 sondes can be transmitted simultaneously. After separation from the release container, the sondes enable high-resolution spatio-temporal profiling of temperature, humidity, pressure, and wind with a time resolution of 1.2 s corresponding to approximately 10 m vertical resolution. The modular design ensures simple integration of additional sensors without extensive flight tests and recertification for e.g. particle measurements and radioactivity. The standard meteorological sonde comprises sensor elements of a commercial Graw DFM-17 radiosonde, a 400 to 406 MHz band communication link to the aircraft, and an optional satellite communication module. By means of the satellite link, the data can be made ​​available worldwide in near real time and data loss is avoided when the dropping aircraft leaves the telemetry range. The main feature of the new system is the release container, which allows for dropping through standard dropsonde dispensers of both mid-size turbo-prop aircraft (e.g. Dornier Do 128-6) and jet aircraft (e.g. the Gulfstream 550 &ldquo;High Altitude and Long Range Research Aircraft, HALO&rdquo;). The release container ensures safe separation from the aircraft and protects its payload during deceleration from aircraft speed to fall speed before the sondes are released by an electro-mechanical mechanism. Operations in different campaigns have confirmed the reliability of the entire system and the quality of acquired data. Feasibility of the technical and operational approach for targeted observations of a mesoscale convective system in Argentina was demonstrated by HALO measurements during the SouthTRAC (TRAnsport and Composition of the southern hemisphere UTLS campaign) campaign. Moreover, a configuration consisting of one meteorological sonde coupled (a) with an optical counter for particle sizing was tested using a Dornier Do 128-6 aircraft during a Saharan dust episode over Germany and (b) with a radioactivity sensor was successfully dropped from a Learjet 35A.

To demonstrate the benefits of advanced PCB manufacturing technologies in power electronics, this study presents a PCB embedded SiC half bridge design and compares its switching transients with the conventional SiC package design. The presented PCB embedded design stands out as a compact design, occupying nearly 40 % less space compared to the conventional design. The silver sintered die attached copper lead frame, low thermal resistivity prepreg, and copper filled laser microvias provide an effective thermal conductivity between die and the cooling side of the PCB. The compact design also ensures the power loop inductance below 1.5nH at 1MHz and, compared to conventional SiC package design, offers five times less parasitic PCB capacitance. The experimental results show that the switching speed of the designs are 19 V/ns and 15 V/ns during turn on transients, and 8 V/ns for both during turn off transients. The lower overshoot stress and faster damped ringing in PCB embedded design contribute to the reduction of the switching losses.

PurposeApalutamide plus androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) improved outcomes in patients with non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (nmCRPC). Nevertheless real-world data are limited. The aim of this multicenter study was to generate real-world data from nmCRPC patients treated with ADT plus apalutamide.MethodsIn this observational cohort based investigator initiated trial data of nmCRPC patients receiving apalutamide plus ADT were collected focusing on patient demographic data, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) declines, safety profile including dose modification/discontinuation as well as subsequent therapy and metastasis-free survival (MFS).ResultsData from a total of 31 nmCRPC patients were documented. Compared to the Phase III study Spartan real-world patients are older, showed a higher ECOG-PS and more aggressive tumors. In the cohort PSA decreased about 98.1%, 74% of patients showed a PSA decrease over 90% and 54.8% reached a PSA-level < 0.2ng/ml. Apalutamide was well tolerated in real world patients: adverse events occurred in 67.7% but were in the majority mild (≥ grade 3: 6.5%). Dose reduction was necessary in 38.7% and 32.2% discontinued apalutamide treatment. MFS was 43 months and majority of patients were subsequently treated with abiraterone.ConclusionIn real world more comorbid nmCRPC patients with a higher ECOG-PS and more aggressive tumors are treated with apalutamide plus ADT. Nevertheless efficacy results as well as side effects are similar in real-world compared to Spartan trial showing also a rapid, durable and deep PSA response with a median MFS of 43 months.

To solve the upcoming environmental problems, sponge city concepts as well as new technologies are being developed these days. One of the future challenges is to reduce drinking water demand by using decentralized water recycling systems. This study aimed to investigate the performance of a specially designed pilot wetland roof (PWR) treating domestic greywater (GW) at ground level under outdoor conditions and to evaluate the effects of different hydraulic loading rates (HLRs) for a period of two years. The results showed highly efficient removal of typical greywater pollutants from the system, e.g., five-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) &gt; 96%, chemical oxygen demand (COD) &gt; 93%, total suspended solids (TSS) &gt;94%, anionic surfactants (AS) &gt; 94%, ammonium-nitrogen (NH4-N) &gt; 84%, total nitrogen (TN) &gt; 71%, total phosphorous (TP) &gt; 87%, and E. coli (1.86 ± 1.54 log-removal). The mean concentrations of the targeted parameters at the outflow were in compliance with the requirements for discharge to the environment and met reclaimed water quality standards for agricultural irrigation, except for E. coli. Statistically significant (p &lt; 0.05) results of pollutant mass removal rate across different HLRs indicated the potential effect of HLR on treatment performance, and HLR in a range of 67–80 L m–2 d–1 contributed to a higher removal efficiency without compromising the limit values. A comparatively low HLR of 45 L m–2 d–1 should be applicable if pathogen removal is the most important requirement. Plant species showed good plant vitality and adapted well to the water storage mat. The higher the mean ambient air temperature, the greater runoff reduction (&gt;50%) was observed due to high evapotranspiration. The results showed the system is a promising green technology for GW recycling and can be scaled up for application to urban buildings.

Abstract In this work, the influence of the magnetic field on the alignment degree of the magnetic particles and on the magnetic energy flux of elastomer bonded magnets are investigated. For the investigations, a strontium ferrite filled nitrile butadiene rubber is used. The change of magnetic flux density in the injection molding tool cavity was realized by changing the current at the rectifier. The alignment degree of the magnetic particles increases with increasing magnetic field in the injection molding tool cavity. Above a certain current strength, a saturation behavior of the alignment degree of the magnetic particles and the magnetic energy flux is reached. The change of the cavity magnetic field leads to an improvement of the pole angle error up to a current of 10 A. An increase of the current above 10 A leads to hardly any improvement of the pole angle error, since a saturation in the alignment of the magnetic particles has already been reached.

Abstract This work analyses the impact of the sample geometry on the stress or strain concentration and the occurrence of big agglomerates in the investigated test volume. Although the three investigated dumbbell test specimens were loaded at the same stress level, there were significant differences in measured lifetime. These differences in the lifetime are due to the occurrence of the large agglomerates in the tested volume. The probability of occurrence of large agglomerates increases with increase in the investigated volume. In the lifetime prediction by Monte Carlo method, this effect is realized by changing the quantity of the distributed agglomerates in the mesh of the simulated model. The prediction of the different sample geometries shows a very good agreement with the measurement points. The numerical simulations illustrate the stress increase for the three used lifetime test samples.

Today's methods for the inspection of the position of weld seams in glass, which has a decisive effect on the strength and thus on the quality of the permanent bond, are costly and often carried out manually in a destructive manner. The present paper proposes the application of optical coherence tomography to determine the position of the weld seam by evaluation of the signals caused by the voids within weld seams. Blind welds of fused silica and alkali-aluminosilicate glass were investigated, and a method for data evaluation is presented. The method is predominantly suitable for glass that exhibits the formation of distinct voids during welding and provides an approach for online monitoring and control of glass welding processes.