L10 FePtCu bit patterned media.

Chemically ordered 5 nm-thick L10 FePtCu films with strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy were post-patterned by nanoimprint lithography into a dot array over a 3 mm-wide circumferential band on a 3 inch Si wafer. The dots with a diameter of 30 nm and a center-to-center pitch of 60 nm appear as single domain and reveal an enhanced switching field as compared to the continuous film. We demonstrate successful recording on a single track using shingled writing with a conventional hard disk drive write/read head.

Nanocap arrays of granular CoCrPt:SiO2 films on silica particles: tailoring of the magnetic properties by Co+ irradiation.

An approach for tailoring the magnetic properties by ion irradiation of granular perpendicular CoCrPt:SiO(2) films grown on silica particles with sizes down to 10 nm was investigated. The as-prepared samples reveal an intriguing scaling dependence of the coercive field and remnant magnetization: both parameters are found to decrease with decreasing particle size. However, Co(+) irradiation at a low fluence of 0.5 x 10(14) cm(-2) already results in an opposite scaling behavior. It is assumed that this modification is due to the enhancement of the intergranular magnetic exchange coupling of the granular CoCrPt:SiO(2) film initiated by Co(+) irradiation resulting in a modified reversal behavior. Further increase of the irradiation fluence beyond 1.6 x 10(14) ions cm(-2) leads to a degradation of the magnetic layer properties, lowering the remnant magnetization and the coercive field in the easy-axis direction. Moreover, the local magnetic properties of the samples were analyzed by magnetic force microscopy revealing magnetic multi-domain cap structures.

Development of a laboratory-scale leaching plant for metal extraction from fly ash by thiobacillus strains.

Semicontinuous biohydrometallurgical processing of fly ash from municipal waste incineration was performed in a laboratory-scale leaching plant (LSLP) by using a mixed culture of Thiobacillus thiooxidans and Thiobacillus ferrooxidans. The LSLP consisted of three serially connected reaction vessels, reservoirs for a fly ash suspension and a bacterial stock culture, and a vacuum filter unit. The LSLP was operated with an ash concentration of 50 g liter, and the mean residence time was 6 days (2 days in each reaction vessel). The leaching efficiencies (expressed as percentages of the amounts applied) obtained for the economically most interesting metal, Zn, were up to 81%, and the leaching efficiencies for Al were up to 52%. Highly toxic Cd was completely solubilized (100%), and the leaching efficiencies for Cu, Ni, and Cr were 89, 64, and 12%, respectively. The role of T. ferrooxidans in metal mobilization was examined in a series of shake flask experiments. The release of copper present in the fly ash as chalcocite (Cu(2)S) or cuprite (Cu(2)O) was dependent on the metabolic activity of T. ferrooxidans, whereas other metals, such as Al, Cd, Cr, Ni, and Zn, were solubilized by biotically formed sulfuric acid. Chemical leaching with 5 N H(2)SO(4) resulted in significantly increased solubilization only for Zn. The LSLP developed in this study is a promising first step toward a pilot plant with a high capacity to detoxify fly ash for reuse for construction purposes and economical recovery of valuable metals.

[Participants of mother-child health resort treatments]. / Die Inanspruchnehmerinnen von Mutter-Kind-Kuren.

Mother-child health-resort treatments have for many years been a major component of rehabilitative and preventive health care for women. The rising significance of health-promotion measures on the one hand, and increased attention to women's health aspects in rehabilitation and prevention on the other, have made in-depth consideration of the issues involved in target-groups, participation in and conceptual potential of mother-child programmes necessary. In a questionnaire study of n = 103 women participating in a mother-child programme, data were collected concerning their life situation, life satisfaction, psychosocial burdens and psychovegetative complaints, the expectations and needs hoped to be met by the preventive and rehabilitative programme features, as well as the motives for participating. The findings show that the life situation of the women in our study is characterized by a high degree of stress and strain, by physical complaints and dissatisfaction with life. The women clearly state the relationships they see among their current life situation, their subjective emotional state, their health behaviours, and their subjective physical status. Programme participation, on the one hand, has to do with needing a rest and easing of tension; yet on the other hand, the responding women also express a desire to confront current life themes, to find room for reconsidering attitudes, behaviours and the potential for change. Implications for shaping women-specific rehabilitative and preventive programmes are formulated on the basis of the study findings. Future studies in the field of mother-child health resort programmes should be directed at evaluating the treatment programmes available.