In this review we first outline the basics of transport theory and its recent generalization to offshell transport. We then present in some detail the main ingredients of any transport method using in particular the Giessen Boltzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbeck (GiBUU) implementation of this theory as an example. We discuss the potentials used, the ground state initialization and the collision term, including the in-medium modifications of the latter. The central part of this review covers applications of GiBUU to a wide class of reactions, starting from pion-induced reactions over proton and antiproton reactions on nuclei to heavy-ion collisions (up to about 30 AGeV). A major part concerns also the description of photon-, electron-and neutrino-induced reactions (in the energy range from a few 100 MeV to a few 100 GeV). For this wide class of reactions GiBUU gives an excellent description with the same physics input and the same code being used. We argue that GiBUU is an indispensable tool for any investigation of nuclear reactions in which final-state interactions play a role. Studies of pion-nucleus interactions, nuclear fragmentation, heavy-ion reactions, hypernucleus formation, hadronization, color transparency, electronnucleus collisions and neutrino-nucleus interactions are all possible applications of GiBUU and are discussed in this article.

We present a model for electron-and neutrino-scattering off nucleons and nuclei focussing on the quasielastic and resonance region. The lepton-nucleon reaction is described within a relativistic formalism that includes, besides quasielastic scattering, the excitation of 13 N * and ∆ resonances and a non-resonant single-pion background. Recent electron-scattering data is used for the state-ofthe-art parametrizations of the vector form factors; the axial couplings are determined via PCAC and, in the case of the ∆ resonance, the axial form factor is refitted using neutrino-scattering data. Scattering off nuclei is treated within the Giessen Boltzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbeck (GiBUU) framework that takes into account various nuclear effects: the local density approximation for the nuclear ground state; mean-field potentials and in-medium spectral functions. Results for inclusive scattering off Oxygen are presented and, in the case of electron-induced reactions, compared to experimental data and other models.

Improving protein stability is an important goal for basic research as well as for clinical and industrial applications but no commonly accepted and widely used strategy for efficient engineering is known. Beside random approaches like error prone PCR or physical techniques to stabilize proteins, e.g. by immobilization, in silico approaches are gaining more attention to apply target-oriented mutagenesis. In this review different algorithms for the prediction of beneficial mutation sites to enhance protein stability are summarized and the advantages and disadvantages of FoldX are highlighted. The question whether the prediction of mutation sites by the algorithm FoldX is more accurate than random based approaches is addressed.

We investigate neutrino induced one pion production on nucleons. The elementary neutrinonucleon cross section is calculated as the sum of the leading Delta pole diagram and several background diagrams obtained within the nonlinear sigma model. This approach does not introduce any new adjustable parameters, which allows unambiguous predictions for the observables. Considering electroproduction experiments as benchmark, the model is shown to be applicable up to pion-nucleon invariant mass W < 1.4 GeV and provides a good accuracy. With respect to the total one pion cross section, the model predicts the background at the level of 10% for the pπ + , 30% for pπ 0 , and 50% for nπ + final states. The results are compared with experimental data for various differential cross sections. Distributions with respect to muon-nucleon and muon-pion invariant masses are presented for the first time. The model describes the data quite well, with the discrepancies being of the same order as those between different data sets.

The interaction between nuclei and a strong zeptosecond laser pulse with coherent MeV photons is investigated theoretically. We provide a first semi-quantitative study of the quasiadiabatic regime where the photon absorption rate is comparable to the nuclear equilibration rate. In that regime, multiple photon absorption leads to the formation of a compound nucleus in the so-far unexplored regime of excitation energies several hundred MeV above the yrast line. The temporal dynamics of the process is investigated by means of a set of master equations that account for dipole absorption, stimulated dipole emission, neutron decay and induced fission in a chain of nuclei. That set is solved numerically by means of state-of-the-art matrix exponential methods also used in nuclear fuel burnup and radioactivity transport calculations. Our quantitative estimates predict the excitation path and range of nuclei reached by neutron decay and provide relevant information for the layout of future experiments.