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ABSTRACT And concrete diction Carl Jonas Love Almqvist’s Drottningens juvelsmycke (The Queen's Tiara; 1834) is, along with Amorina, the work primarily associated with the ”poetic fugue” – a concept the author develops in ”Om enheten av epism och dramatism; en aning om den poetiska fugan” (”On the unity of epism and dramatism; a notion of the poetic fugue”; 1821); an essay often considered vague and theoretical by researchers in the field. The meaning of the poetic fugue has been regarded unclear, but mainly considered as some kind of synthesis of epic and dramatic writing. This essay argues that that is not the case, and that this one-dimensional approach both limits the interpretations of the essay and the poetic fugue as a whole. From a multidisciplinary perspective, with myself and my own reader as a part of the fugue itself, the aim of this essay is to highlight a very important overseen aspect of the poetic fugue, and Almqvist’s writing in general – the connections to mathematics, the analogies between abstract and concrete levels, and how these are deeply intertwined. The results in this essay are derived from a close reading technique based on mathematical problem solving called the ideotic method (den ideotiska metoden), and analyzed with Douglas Hofstadter's theory of Strange loops in Gödel, Escher, Bach – an eternal golden braid (1979). This analysis shows that this analogy is not just about the composition of a poetic piece of art, a synthesis of epic and dramatic writing, or the relation between music and text. Instead the results do point to an alternative interdisciplinary interpretation, where the relations between parts and units, realities and fictions, readers and texts, make the poetic fugue more of an analogy for the universe as a whole – a living and breathing ”animal coeleste” in contrast to the Newtonian ”mechanical coeleste”. An analogy which, thanks to its mathematical construction and way of looking at time as non-linear, is connected to both Einstein’s theory of relativity and quantum theory – the science of the very big and the very small, parts and units, of everything, including ourselves.

<p>Thorium dioxide (ThO₂) and metallic uranium (alpha-U) represent important alternative nuclear fuels. Investigating the behavior of defects introduced into these materials in an irradiation environment is critical for understanding microstructure evolution and property changes. The objective of this dissertation is to investigate the clustering of point defects in ThO₂ and alpha-U under irradiation, into voids and prismatic dislocation loops as a function of irradiation dose rate and temperature. To achieve this, we have developed a mean-field cluster dynamics (CD) model based on reaction rate theory to predict the evolution of self-interstitial atom (SIA) and vacancy loops in neutron-irradiated alpha-U. Detailed atomistic simulations have been carried out using molecular dynamics (MD) to study the configuration of such loops and compute their energetics, which are essential parameters of the CD model. Bond-boost hyper-MD simulations have been performed to compute the diffusivity of uranium SIA and vacancies, which govern the kinetics of the clustering phenomenon. Another CD model has been demonstrated for proton-irradiated ThO₂, considering the clustering of Th and O SIA and vacancies into SIA loops and voids, respectively, with varying sizes and stoichiometry. The compositions of all SIA loops and voids dictated by crystallography of ThO₂ in its fluorite structure have been presented in their respective cluster composition space (CCS). The CD model solves the density evolution of off-stoichiometric loops and voids, with irradiation, in their respective CCS. MD simulations have been performed to compute the energetics of different clusters in their CCS, as parameters of the CD model. Temperature-accelerated MD simulations have been performed to compute the diffusivity of Th and O point defects, that dictates the kinetics of defect clustering on irradiation. In alpha-U, the CD predictions show an accumulation of small sized vacancy loops and the growth of SIA loops with irradiation dose, which closely fits the reported size distribution of loops in neutron-irradiated alpha-U by Hudson and coworkers. The CD predicted density of defect clusters in proton-irradiated ThO₂, shows the evolution of near-stoichiometric SIA loops in their CCS. The size distribution of SIA loops at high irradiation doses closely corresponds to the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations reported in the literature. Also, the CD model did not predict the growth of voids and vacancy clusters, which is consistent with findings in literature. The model was further used to predict the density of sub-nanometric defect clusters and point defects, on low-dose irradiation, that significantly impairs the thermal conductivity of ThO₂. An extensive TEM and CD investigation has also been carried out to study the growth and coarsening of SIA loop and voids during post-irradiation isochronal annealing of ThO₂ at high temperatures.</p>

The effect of proton (H+) irradiation on uranium mononitride (UN) and UN compositefuel with 10 at.% ZrN (UN10at%ZrN) was examined. Protons of 2 MeV with fluences of1E17, 1E18, 1E19 and 1E20 ions/cm2 were accelerated towards the fabricated samples in orderto investigate the evolution of the micro-structure. Stopping and Range of Ions in Matter(SRIM) calculations were performed to determine the displacements per atom associatedwith the depth of the highest damage, for each fluence.X-Ray diffraction (XRD) was used in both samples to identify the chemical composition ofeach pellet, which revealed the low presence of oxygen. Based on scanning electron microscopy(SEM), deterioration of the samples surface was observed, as the proton fluence increased.The applied stress due to the irradiation, led to the cracking of the pellets at the highestfluences. Blisters and craters appear to surround the cracked region, which might originatefrom the significant levels of hydrogen implantation within the samples.From Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) analysis, the grain size of the UN10at%ZrNcomposite was found to be smaller than in UN, due to the nano-particle nature of the ZrNpowder. The latter technique was also used to observe the elevated irradiated regions, whichwere further investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Nano-indentation detectedirradiation hardening for both samples in the irradiated regions. Focused ion beam (FIB)milling was applied to remove lamellas from the cracked regions in both UN and compositesamples in order to be analyzed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The latter mightreveals the formation of dislocation loops in the irradiated areas. / Effekten av protonbestrålning på urannitrid (UN) och UN-kompositbränsle med 10 at.% ZrN (UN10at%ZrN) undersöktes. Protoner på 2 MeV med total dos på 1E17, 1E18, 1E19 och 1E20 joner/cm2 accelererades mot de tillverkade proverna för att undersöka utvecklingen av mikrostrukturen under bestrålning. SRIM-beräkningar (Stopping and Range of Ions in Matter) utfördes för att bestämma profilen på skadan och jonimplanteringen i förhållande till djupet, för varje dosnivå.  Röntgendiffraktion (XRD) användes på båda proverna för att identifiera den kemiska sammansättningen av varje kuts, vilket visade att syrehalten var låg. Med hjälp av svepelektronmikroskopi (SEM) observerades en försämring av provernas yta när protonflödet ökade. Den resulterande mekaniska spänningen överskred provets brottstyrka på djupet, eftersom nitriderna inte är så duktila, vilket ledde till sprickbildning i proverna som utsattes för de högsta doserna. Blåsor och kratrar omger det spruckna området, vilket beror på betydande väteimplantering i provet.  Genom electron backscatter diffraction analys (EBSD) konstaterades att kornstorleken hos UN10at%ZrN-kompositen var mindre än hos UN, på grund av ZrN-pulvrets nanopartikelnatur. Den sistnämnda tekniken användes för att observera de högt bestrålade områdena, som undersöktes ytterligare med Atomic force microscopy (AFM). Genom nano-indientation upptäcktes bestrålningshärdning för båda proverna i de bestrålade områdena. Fräsning med en fokuserad jonstråle (FIB) användes för att avlägsna lameller från de spruckna områdena i både UN- och kompositprovet för att kunna analyseras med transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Det senare visade att det bildades dislokationer i de bestrålade områdena.

Network reconstruction is the process of recovering a unique structured representation of some dynamic system using input-output data and some additional knowledge about the structure of the system. Many network reconstruction algorithms have been proposed in recent years, most dealing with the reconstruction of strictly proper networks (i.e., networks that require delays in all dynamics between measured variables). However, no reconstruction technique presently exists capable of recovering both the structure and dynamics of networks where links are proper (delays in dynamics are not required) and not necessarily strictly proper.The ultimate objective of this dissertation is to develop algorithms capable of reconstructing proper networks, and this objective will be addressed in three parts. The first part lays the foundation for the theory of mathematical representations of proper networks, including an exposition on when such networks are well-posed (i.e., physically realizable). The second part studies the notions of abstractions of a network, which are other networks that preserve certain properties of the original network but contain less structural information. As such, abstractions require less a priori information to reconstruct from data than the original network, which allows previously-unsolvable problems to become solvable. The third part addresses our original objective and presents reconstruction algorithms to recover proper networks in both the time domain and in the frequency domain.

Les dinoflagellés sont des eucaryotes unicellulaires retrouvés dans la plupart des écosystèmes aquatiques du globe. Ces organismes amènent une contribution substantielle à la production primaire des océans, soit en tant que membre du phytoplancton, soit en tant que symbiontes des anthozoaires formant les récifs coralliens. Malheureusement, ce rôle écologique majeur est souvent négligé face à la capacité de certaines espèces de dinoflagellés à former des fleurs d'eau, parfois d'étendue et de durée spectaculaires. Ces floraisons d'algues, communément appelées "marées rouges", peuvent avoir de graves conséquences sur les écosystèmes côtiers, sur les industries de la pêche et du tourisme, ainsi que sur la santé humaine. Un des facteurs souvent corrélé avec la formation des fleurs d'eau est une augmentation dans la concentration de nutriments, notamment l’azote et le phosphore. Le nitrate est un des composants principaux retrouvés dans les eaux de ruissellement agricoles, mais également la forme d'azote bioaccessible la plus abondante dans les écosystèmes marins. Ainsi, l'agriculture humaine a contribué à magnifier significativement les problèmes associés aux marées rouges au niveau mondial. Cependant, la pollution ne peut pas expliquer à elle seule la formation et la persistance des fleurs d'eau, qui impliquent plusieurs facteurs biotiques et abiotiques. Il est particulièrement difficile d'évaluer l'importance relative qu'ont les ajouts de nitrate par rapport à ces autres facteurs, parce que le métabolisme du nitrate chez les dinoflagellés est largement méconnu. Le but principal de cette thèse vise à remédier à cette lacune. J'ai choisi Lingulodinium polyedrum comme modèle pour l'étude du métabolisme du nitrate, parce que ce dinoflagellé est facilement cultivable en laboratoire et qu'une étude transcriptomique a récemment fourni une liste de gènes pratiquement complète pour cette espèce. Il est également intéressant que certaines composantes moléculaires de la voie du nitrate chez cet organisme soient sous contrôle circadien. Ainsi, dans ce projet, j'ai utilisé des analyses physiologiques, biochimiques, transcriptomiques et bioinformatiques pour enrichir nos connaissances sur le métabolisme du nitrate des dinoflagellés et nous permettre de mieux apprécier le rôle de l'horloge circadienne dans la régulation de cette importante voie métabolique primaire. Je me suis tout d'abord penché sur les cas particuliers où des floraisons de dinoflagellés sont observées dans des conditions de carence en azote. Cette idée peut sembler contreintuitive, parce que l'ajout de nitrate plutôt que son épuisement dans le milieu est généralement associé aux floraisons d'algues. Cependant, j’ai découvert que lorsque du nitrate était ajouté à des cultures initialement carencées ou enrichies en azote, celles qui s'étaient acclimatées au stress d'azote arrivaient à survivre près de deux mois à haute densité cellulaire, alors que les cellules qui n'étaient pas acclimatées mourraient après deux semaines. En condition de carence d'azote sévère, les cellules arrivaient à survivre un peu plus de deux semaines et ce, en arrêtant leur cycle cellulaire et en diminuant leur activité photosynthétique. L’incapacité pour ces cellules carencées à synthétiser de nouveaux acides aminés dans un contexte où la photosynthèse était toujours active a mené à l’accumulation de carbone réduit sous forme de granules d’amidon et corps lipidiques. Curieusement, ces deux réserves de carbone se trouvaient à des pôles opposés de la cellule, suggérant un rôle fonctionnel à cette polarisation. La deuxième contribution de ma thèse fut d’identifier et de caractériser les premiers transporteurs de nitrate chez les dinoflagellés. J'ai découvert que Lingulodinium ne possédait que très peu de transporteurs comparativement à ce qui est observé chez les plantes et j'ai suggéré que seuls les membres de la famille des transporteurs de nitrate de haute affinité 2 (NRT2) étaient réellement impliqués dans le transport du nitrate. Le principal transporteur chez Lingulodinium était exprimé constitutivement, suggérant que l’acquisition du nitrate chez ce dinoflagellé se fondait majoritairement sur un système constitutif plutôt qu’inductible. Enfin, j'ai démontré que l'acquisition du nitrate chez Lingulodinium était régulée par la lumière et non par l'horloge circadienne, tel qu'il avait été proposé dans une étude antérieure. Finalement, j’ai utilisé une approche RNA-seq pour vérifier si certains transcrits de composantes impliquées dans le métabolisme du nitrate de Lingulodinium étaient sous contrôle circadien. Non seulement ai-je découvert qu’il n’y avait aucune variation journalière dans les niveaux des transcrits impliqués dans le métabolisme du nitrate, j’ai aussi constaté qu’il n’y avait aucune variation journalière pour n’importe quel ARN du transcriptome de Lingulodinium. Cette découverte a démontré que l’horloge de ce dinoflagellé n'avait pas besoin de transcription rythmique pour générer des rythmes physiologiques comme observé chez les autres eukaryotes. / Dinoflagellates are unicellular eukaryotes found in most aquatic ecosystems of the world. They are major contributors to carbon fixation in the oceans, either as free-living phytoplankton or as symbionts to corals. Dinoflagellates are also infamous because some species can form spectacular blooms called red tides, which can cause serious damage to ecosystems, human health, fisheries and tourism. One of the factors often correlated with algal blooms are increases in nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus. Nitrate is one of the main components of agricultural runoffs, but also the most abundant bioavailable form of nitrogen in marine environments. Thus, agricultural activities have globally contributed to the magnification of the problems associated with red tides. However, bloom formation and persistence cannot be ascribed to human pollution alone, because other biotic and abiotic factors are at play. Particularly, it is difficult to assess the relative importance of nitrate addition over these other factors, because nitrate metabolism in dinoflagellate is mostly unknown. Filling part of this gap was the main goal of this thesis. I selected Lingulodinium polyedrum as a model for studying nitrate metabolism, because this dinoflagellate can easily be cultured in the lab and a recent transcriptomic survey has provided an almost complete gene catalogue for this species. It is also interesting that some molecular components of the nitrate pathway in this organism have been reported to be under circadian control. Thus, in this project, I used physiological, biochemical, transcriptomic and bioinformatic approaches to enrich our understanding of dinoflagellate nitrate metabolism and to increase our appreciation of the role of the circadian clock in regulating this important primary metabolic pathway. I first studied the particular case of dinoflagellate blooms that occur and persist in conditions of nitrogen depletion. This idea may seems counterintuitive, because nitrogen addition rather than depletion, is generally associated with algal blooms. However, I discovered that when nitrate was added to nitrogen-deficient or nitrogen-sufficient cultures, those that had been acclimated to nitrogen stress were able to survive for about two months at high cell densities, while non-acclimated cells died after two weeks. In conditions of severe nitrogen limitation, cells could survive a little bit more than two weeks by arresting cell division and reducing photosynthetic rates. The incapacity to synthesize new amino acids for these deprived cells in a context of on-going photosynthesis led to the accumulation of reduced carbon in the form of starch granules and lipid bodies. Interestingly, both of these carbon storage compounds were polarized in Lingulodinium cells, suggesting a functional role. The second contribution of my thesis was to identify and characterize the first nitrate transporters in dinoflagellates. I found that in contrast to plants, Lingulodinium had a reduced suite of nitrate transporters and only members of the high-affinity nitrate transporter 2 (NRT2) family were predicted to be functionally relevant in the transport of nitrate. The main transporter was constitutively expressed, which suggested that nitrate uptake in Lingulodinium was mostly a constitutive process rather than an inducible one. I also discovered that nitrate uptake in this organism was light-dependent and not a circadian-regulated process, as previously suggested. Finally, I used RNA-seq to verify if any transcripts involved in the nitrate metabolism of Lingulodinium were under circadian control. Not only did I discovered that there were no daily variations in the level of transcripts involved in nitrate metabolism, but also that there were no changes for any transcripts present in the whole transcriptome of Lingulodinium. This discovery showed that the circadian timer in this species did not require rhythmic transcription to generate biological rhythms, as observed in other eukaryotes.

L'Electrogravimetria AC empra una microbalança de quars electroquímica (EQCM) en règim dinàmic. En l'EQCM un dels elèctrodes d'or depositats sobre el cristall és recobert amb una fina pelolícula d'un polímer electroactiv i és emprat com a elèctrode de treball (WE) dins d'una celola electroquímica. Les variacions de la freqüència de ressonància de la microbalança de quars (QCM) permeten obtindre la resposta massa associada amb la transferència de càrrega que es dóna en la interfície polímer-electròlit. L'Electrogravimetria AC va ser proposta a fi de caracteritzar i separadament identificar el moviment dels ions i el solvent en la interfície polímer-electròlit. En esta tècnica s'analitza en el domine de la freqüència la resposta de massa davant de xicotetes pertorbacions de voltatge gràcies a l'ocupació de la microbalança de quars en règim dinàmic. Per a este propòsit s'aplica una xicoteta pertorbació sinusoidal superposada a una tensió contínua, entre l'elèctrode de referència i l'elèctrode de treball de la celola. Posteriorment, es pot dibuixar la funció de transferència electrogravimètrica (EGTF), definida esta com la raó (?m/?E) entre l'amplitud dels canvis de massa induïts (?m) i l'amplitud de la pertorbació sinusoïdal aplicada (?E). Esta funció de transferència se dibuixa en un pla complex per a cada una de les freqüències de la senyal de pertorbació. Les distintes espècies iònicas involucrades són identificades en el pla complex per mitjà de bucles característics sempre que els bucles no se superposen. Per mitjà d'esta tesi doctoral es proposa un nou sistema de conversió de freqüència-tensió basat en un doble ajust de freqüència implementat amb un PLL mesclant elements analògics i digitals (AD PLL). Els resultats trobats tant en la caracterització electrònica del dispositiu com en la fase experimental proven la fiabilitat del sistema per als mesuraments realitzats en la tècnica d'Electrogravimetria AC. / Torres Villa, RA. (2007). Instrumental techniques for improving the measurements based on Quartz Crystal Microbalances (Técnicas instrumentales para mejorar las mediciones con microbalanzas de cuarzo) [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/17323

Conventional resistance spot welds are not visible from the outside. Therefore, it is not straightforward to evaluate the joint quality non-destructively. The pulse-echo method of manual ultrasonic is widely used for non-destructive testing. Another option is the passive magnetic flux density testing, which is being developed at Technische Universität Dresden, Germany. The spot weld is magnetized in the normal direction and the residual magnetic flux density is measured on top of the surface of the joint. This method is suitable for spot welds on typical car body steels. Previous investigations show that the magnetic properties of the materials influence the test result. In order to develop this new non-destructive testing method further, it is necessary to know the magnetic properties of the different microstructure regions of a spot weld. This article focuses on methods to measure and evaluate the magnetic properties of these regions, especially of the base material and the weld. Different measuring methods and approaches are presented and compared with each other. Based on the results, recommendations for future measurements for magnetic characterizations are given.

X-Chromosom-Inaktivierung (XCI) ist der Mechanismus, den Säuger zur Dosiskompensierung zwischen weiblichen und männlichen Zellen verwenden. XCI wird ausgelöst durch die monoallelische Hochregulation der langen nicht-kodierenden RNA Xist von einem der zwei X-Chromosomen in weiblichen Zellen. Die Xist RNA vermittelt dann das Ausschalten der Gene auf diesem X-Chromosom. Das wirft einige interessante Fragen auf: Wie zählen Zellen ihre X-Chromosomen und stellen sicher, dass genau eines aktiv bleibt? Wie entscheiden sie, welches X-Chromosom aktiv bleibt und welches ausgeschaltet wird? Und wie erinnern sie sich an diese Entscheidung und behalten sie stabil bei durch alle weiteren Zellteilungen? Mithilfe eines stochastischen Modells zeigen wir, dass diese XCI Regulation prinzipiell durch nur zwei Regulatoren erklärt werden kann: Ein global (in trans) agierender XCI Aktivator und ein lokal (in cis) agierender XCI Repressor. Dieses Netzwerk aus nur zwei Regulatoren kann die Xist Expressionsmuster in verschiedenen Säugerspezies reproduzieren, von der Maus bis zum Mensch. Es sagt außerdem voraus, dass Zellen in der Lage sind, biallelische zu monoallelischer Xist Expression zu korrigieren, eine Vorhersage, für die wir tatsächlich experimentelle Belege finden. Mit einem mechanistischen Modell zeigen wir, dass das cis-Gedächtnis über den Xist Expressionszustand durch Antisense-Transkription zustande kommen könnte. Auf dieser Hypothese aufbauend untersucht der zweite Teil der Arbeit das Potential von Antisense-Transkription, ein lokales Gedächtnis über den Expressionszustand eines Gens zu generieren, genauer. Diese Analyse sagt vorher, dass Antisense-Repression den Expressionszustand eines Lokus tatsächlich für einige Tage stabil erhalten kann. / X-chromosome inactivation (XCI) is the mechanism for dosage compensation between the sexes in mammals. It is initiated through monoallelic upregulation of the long non-coding RNA Xist from one X chromosome, which mediates almost complete transcriptional silencing of this X chromosome. XCI regulation raises intriguing and thus far unanswered questions: How do cells count their X chromosomes and ensure that exactly one stays active? How do they make a mutually exclusive choice for one inactive X chromosome, and how do they then stably maintain this choice throughout subsequent cell divisions? Using stochastic modeling, we show that XCI onset only requires two regulators: A trans-acting Xist activator that ensures female specificity and a cis-acting Xist repressor that allows stable maintenance of alternative Xist expression states. This two-regulator network can recapitulate Xist expression patterns across different species and makes a novel prediction that is validated experimentally: Cells are able to revert biallelic Xist expression to monoallelic expression. With a mechanistic stochastic model we show that Xist's antisense transcript Tsix might be the cis-acting Xist repressor, uncovering the molecular mechanism behind the stabilization of the alternative Xist expression states. Building upon Tsix' possible functional role in stabilizing alternative Xist expression states on the active and inactive X chromosome, the second part of this thesis investigates the potential of antisense transcription to maintain a transient transcriptional memory. We find that mutual repression between a pair of antisense genes can allow the locus to remember the transcription state it has acquired due to a past signal for several days.

In dieser Dissertation werden Aspekte von superkonformen Quantenfeldtheorien untersucht, die für die sogenannte AdS/CFT Korrespondenz relevant sind. Die AdS/CFT Korrespondenz beschreibt eine Dualität zwischen Stringtheorien im Anti-de Sitter Raum und superkonformen Quantenfeldtheorien im Minkowskiraum. In diesem Kontext wurde die sog. Wilsonschleifen / Amplituden Dualität entdeckt, die die Übereinstimmung von n-Gluon MHV Amplituden und n-seitigen polygonalen Wilsonschleifen in der N=4 supersymmetrischen Yang-Mills (SYM) Theorie beschreibt. Im ersten Teil dieser Dissertation wird die Wilsonschleifenseite einer solchen möglichen Dualität in der N=6 superkonformen Chern-Simons (ABJM) Theorie untersucht. Das Hauptergebnis dieser Untersuchungen ist, dass der Erwartungswert der n-seitigen polygonalen Wilsonschleifen auf Einschleifenebene verschwindet, während er auf Zweischleifenebene in seiner funktionalen Form identisch zu der analogen Wilsonschleife in N=4 SYM auf Einschleifenniveau ist. Außerdem wird eine anomale konforme Wardidentität für Wilsonschleifen in Chern-Simons Theorie berechnet. Zudem werden die damit im Zusammenhang stehenden Entwicklungen für Amplituden und Korrelatoren in der ABJM Theorie diskutiert. Im zweiten Teil dieser Dissertation werden Dreipunktfunktionen von zwei geschützten Operatoren und einem Twist-Zwei Operator mit beleibigem Spin j in der N=4 SYM Theorie berechnet. Dafür werden die Indizes des Spin j Operators auf den Lichtkegel projiziert und der Korrelator wird in einem Grenzfall untersucht in dem der Impuls der bei dem Spin j Operator einfließt verschwindet. Dieser Grenzfall vereinfacht die perturbative Berechnung erheblich, da alle Dreipunktdiagramme effektiv auf Zweipunktdiagramme reduziert werden und die Abhängigkeit der Mischungsmatrix auf Einschleifenebene herausfällt. Das Ergebnis stimmt mit der Analyse der Operatorproduktentwicklung von Vierpunktfunktionen geschützter Operatoren von Dolan und Osborn aus dem Jahre 2004 überein. / In this thesis aspects of superconformal field theories that are of interest in the so-called AdS/CFT correspondence are investivated. The AdS/CFT correspondence states a duality between string theories living on Anti-de Sitter space and superconformal quantum field theories in Minkowski space. In the context of the AdS/CFT correspondence the so-called Wilson loop / amplitude duality was discovered, stating the equality of the finite parts of n-gluon MHV amplitudes and n-sided lightlike polygonal Wilson loops in N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills (SYM) theory. It is the subject of the first part of this thesis to investigate the Wilson loop side of a possible similar duality in N=6 superconformal Chern-Simons matter (ABJM) theory. The main result is, that the expectation value of n-sided lightlike polygonal Wilson loops vanishes at one-loop order and at two-loop order is identical in its functional form to the Wilson loop in N=4 SYM theory at one-loop order. Furthermore, an anomalous conformal Ward identity for Wilson loops in Chern-Simons theory is derived. Related developments and symmetries of amplitudes and correlators in ABJM theory are discussed as well. In the second part of this thesis we calculate three-point functions of two protected operators and one twist-two operator with arbitrary even spin j in N =4 SYM theory. In order to carry out the calculations, the indices of the spin j operator are projected to the light-cone and the correlator is evaluated in a soft-limit where the momentum coming in at the spin j operator becomes zero. This limit largely simplifies the perturbative calculation, since all three-point diagrams effectively reduce to two-point diagrams and the dependence on the one-loop mixing matrix drops out completely. The result is in agreement with the analysis of the operator product expansion of four-point functions of half-BPS operators by Dolan and Osborn in 2004.