Search Results (8)

This article explores the personal encounters between the Swiss–German missionaries and their Japanese students through their school projects in the late nineteenth century, as a fresh approach to disclose an entirely new analytical angle to mission education and the production of otherness. By examining the personal encounter of missionaries with their students, it problematizes scholars’ reliance on the concept of otherness as a unidirectional transfer of knowledge from West to non-West. Instead, this study argues, that the process of “othering” should be looked at as a negotiation beyond an East–West hierarchical divide, in which new forms of beliefs and practices for Japanese converts emerged. An analysis of relevant missionary sources reveals that in the period 1885 to 1893 the missionaries’ work with the Japanese students evolved into a seemingly contradictory state. On the one side, the missionaries devoted a great number of resources and time in educating their Japanese subjects into what they perceived to be true Christians. On the other side, they repeatedly expressed deep doubts about their students’ potential to become the type of Christians they envisioned. Focusing on three cases of missionaries’ encounters with Japanese students, this article argues that the attempts and results of negotiating otherness in the Swiss–German mission school projects opened new possibilities for identity formation among Japanese Christians. Full article

In a reading of Gryphius’ Catharina von Georgien within its political and confessional context of Silesia at the end of the Thirty Years’ War, this article analyzes the transformation of the Christian martyr cult within early modern German tragedy. It argues that Gryphius used the hagiographic type of the royal martyr as a moral example and figure of governmental order. He depicted the pious Georgian martyr Queen Catharina and her devout officials as an inspiring community of civic virtue to be imitated by his fellow Silesians. This patriotic injunction of the tragedy resonates with legal concepts of public law put forward by Gryphius’ mentor, Georg Schönborner and others. The article finds that Gryphius’ martyr tragedy must be read as an aesthetic contribution to some of the legal movements decisive for German state formation around 1650. Full article

A technique for the fabrication of bacterial cellulose-based films with CeO₂ nanofiller has been developed. The structural and morphological characteristics of the materials have been studied, their thermal and mechanical properties in dry and swollen states having been determined. The preparation methodology makes it possible to obtain composites with a uniform distribution of nanoparticles. The catalytic effect of ceria, regarding the thermal oxidative destruction of cellulose, has been confirmed by TGA and DTA methods. An increase in CeO₂ content led to an increase in the elastic modulus (a 1.27-fold increase caused by the introduction of 5 wt.% of the nanofiller into the polymer) and strength of the films. This effect is explained by the formation of additional links between polymer macro-chains via the nanoparticles’ surface. The materials fabricated were characterized by a limited ability to swell in water. Swelling caused a 20- to 30-fold reduction in the stiffness of the material, the mechanical properties of the films in a swollen state remaining germane to their practical use. The application of the composite films in cell engineering as substrates for the stem cells’ proliferation has been studied. The increase in CeO₂ content in the films enhanced the proliferative activity of embryonic mouse stem cells. The cells cultured on the scaffold containing 5 wt.% of ceria demonstrated increased cell survival and migration activity. An analysis of gene expression confirmed improved cultivation conditions on CeO₂-containing scaffolds. Full article

The European Spallation Source (ESS), which is under construction in Lund (Sweden), will be the leading and most brilliant neutron source and aims at starting user operation at the end of 2023. Among others, two small angle neutron scattering (SANS) machines will be operated. Due to the high brilliance of the source, it is important to minimize the downtime of the instruments. For this, a collaboration between three German universities and the ESS was initialized to develop and construct a unified sample environment (SE) system. The main focus was set on the use of a robust carrier system for the different SEs, which allows setting up experiments and first prealignment outside the SANS instruments. This article covers the development and construction of a SE for SANS experiments with foams, which allows measuring foams at different drainage states and the control of the rate of foam formation, temperature, and measurement position. The functionality under ESS conditions was tested and neutron test measurement were carried out. Full article

The interface passivation of the HfO₂/Si_0.7Ge_0.3 stack is systematically investigated based on low-temperature ozone oxidation and Si-cap methods. Compared with the Al₂O₃/Si_0.7Ge_0.3 stack, the dispersive feature and interface state density (D_it) of the HfO₂/Si_0.7Ge_0.3 stack MOS (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) capacitor under ozone direct oxidation (pre-O sample) increases obviously. This is because the tiny amounts of GeO_x in the formed interlayer (IL) oxide layer are more likely to diffuse into HfO₂ and cause the HfO₂/Si_0.7Ge_0.3 interface to deteriorate. Moreover, a post-HfO₂-deposition (post-O) ozone indirect oxidation is proposed for the HfO₂/Si_0.7Ge_0.3 stack; it is found that compared with pre-O sample, the D_it of the post-O sample decreases by about 50% due to less GeO_x available in the IL layer. This is because the amount of oxygen atoms reaching the interface of HfO₂/Si_0.7Ge_0.3 decreases and the thickness of IL in the post-O sample also decreases. To further reduce the D_it of the HfO₂/Si_0.7Ge_0.3 interface, a Si-cap passivation with the optimal thickness of 1 nm is developed and an excellent HfO₂/Si_0.7Ge_0.3 interface with D_it of 1.53 × 10¹¹ eV⁻¹cm⁻² @ E−E_v = 0.36 eV is attained. After detailed analysis of the chemical structure of the HfO₂/IL/Si-cap/Si_0.7Ge_0.3 using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), it is confirmed that the excellent HfO₂/Si_0.7Ge_0.3 interface is realized by preventing the formation of Hf-silicate/Hf-germanate and Si oxide originating from the reaction between HfO₂ and Si_0.7Ge_0.3 substrate. Full article

The paper pursues the question of the relationship between secularization, religious denominations, and regional characteristics. A literature review leads to the formation of six hypotheses. The analysis of regional statistics for Germany shows clear regional differences in the distribution of the denominational affiliation as well as the secularization of the population. Traditional differences between the federal states and their sub-regions are still recognizable. In particular, there is an obvious difference in secularization between the East German and West German states in relation to the significance of the two large Christian denominations. These differences between the paths of regional development and degree of secularization are so large that most of the hypothesis testing on the association between religious affiliation and demographic and socio-economic variables resulted in different findings for the two areas. Further research is required to pursue more regional differentiation and to include non-Christian faiths in the investigations. Full article

Currently, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is widely used to characterize the nanostructured material surface. The ability to determine the atom distribution and chemical state with depth without the sample destruction is important for studying the internal structure of the coating layer several nanometers thick, and makes XPS the preferable tool for the non-destructive testing of nanostructured systems. In this work, ultra-soft X-ray spectroscopy methods are used to study hidden layers and interfaces of pyrolytic tungsten carbide nanoscale coatings on the multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) surfaces. XPS measurements were performed using laboratory spectrometers with sample charge compensation, and Near Edge X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (NEXAFS) studies using the Russian–German dipole beamline (RGBL) synchrotron radiation at BESSY-II. The studied samples were tested by scanning and transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffractometry, Raman scattering and NEXAFS spectroscopy. It was shown that the interface between MWCNT and the pyrolytic coating of tungsten carbide has a three-layer structure: (i) an interface layer consisting of the outer graphene layer carbon atoms, forming bonds with oxygen atoms from the oxides adsorbed on the MWCNT surface, and tungsten atoms from the coating layer; (ii) a non-stoichiometric tungsten carbide WC_1-x nanoscale particles layer; (iii) a 3.3 nm thick non-stoichiometric tungsten oxide WO_3-x layer on the WC_1-x/MWCNT nanocomposite outer surface, formed in air. The tungsten carbide nanosized particle’s adhesion to the nanotube outer surface is ensured by the formation of a chemical bond between the carbon atoms from the MWCNT upper layer and the tungsten atoms from the coating layer. Full article

The meaningful utilization of artificially created multiple fractures in tight formations is associated with the performance behavior of such flow channels, especially in the case of thermal energy extraction from sedimentary geothermal system. In this study, an innovative idea is presented to develop a numerical model for geothermal energy production based on concrete physical performance of an artificially created tensile multi-fracture system in a simplified manner. The state-of-the-art software FLAC3D^plus-TOUGH2MP-TMVOC are integrated to develop a coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) fictive model for constructing a multi-fracture scheme and estimating heat extraction performance. By incorporating the actual fracture width of newly created subsequent fracture under the effect of stress shadow, cubic law is implemented for fluid flow and geothermal energy production. The results depict that fracture spacing plays a vital role in the energy contribution through multiple fractures. Afterwards, a field case study to design huge multiple hydraulic fractures was performed in the geothermal well GB X1 in North Germany. The attenuation of fracture propagation becomes more significant when massive multiple fracturing operation is performed especially in the case of lower fracture spacing. The fictive model results will be extended to study the geothermal utilization of the North German basin through massive multiple fractures in our future work. Full article