193 research outputs found
Recommendations to the formulation of EU regulation 2092/91 on livestock production
Within the SAFO network, the workpackage on standard development has focussed on the topic, on how and to what degree the EU-Regulations con-tribute to the objective of a high status of anima health and food safety in organic livestock production. Results and conclusions from the discussions at 5 SAFO workshops are presented
Tailored pump-probe transient spectroscopy with time-dependent density-functional theory: controlling absorption spectra
Recent advances in laser technology allow us to follow electronic motion at its natural time-scale with ultra-fast time resolution, leading the way towards attosecond physics experiments of extreme precision. In this work, we assess the use of tailored pumps in order to enhance (or reduce) some given features of the probe absorption (for example, absorption in the visible range of otherwise transparent samples). This type of manipulation of the system response could be helpful for its full characterization, since it would allow us to visualize transitions that are dark when using unshaped pulses. In order to investigate these possibilities, we perform first a theoretical analysis of the non-equilibrium response function in this context, aided by one simple numerical model of the hydrogen atom. Then, we proceed to investigate the feasibility of using time-dependent density-functional theory as a means to implement, theoretically, this absorption-optimization idea, for more complex atoms or molecules. We conclude that the proposed idea could in principle be brought to the laboratory: tailored pump pulses can excite systems into light-absorbing states. However, we also highlight the severe numerical and theoretical difficulties posed by the problem: large-scale non-equilibrium quantum dynamics are cumbersome, even with TDDFT, and the shortcomings of state-of-the-art TDDFT functionals may still be serious for these out-of-equilibrium situations
Tailored pump-probe transient spectroscopy with time-dependent density-functional theory: controlling absorption spectra
Recent advances in laser technology allow us to follow electronic motion at its natural time-scale with ultra-fast time resolution, leading the way towards attosecond physics experiments of extreme precision. In this work, we assess the use of tailored pumps in order to enhance (or reduce) some given features of the probe absorption (for example, absorption in the visible range of otherwise transparent samples). This type of manipulation of the system response could be helpful for its full characterization, since it would allow us to visualize transitions that are dark when using unshaped pulses. In order to investigate these possibilities, we perform first a theoretical analysis of the non-equilibrium response function in this context, aided by one simple numerical model of the hydrogen atom. Then, we proceed to investigate the feasibility of using time-dependent density-functional theory as a means to implement, theoretically, this absorption-optimization idea, for more complex atoms or molecules. We conclude that the proposed idea could in principle be brought to the laboratory: tailored pump pulses can excite systems into light-absorbing states. However, we also highlight the severe numerical and theoretical difficulties posed by the problem: large-scale non-equilibrium quantum dynamics are cumbersome, even with TDDFT, and the shortcomings of state-of-the-art TDDFT functionals may still be serious for these out-of-equilibrium situations
Swiss ethnoveterinary knowledge on medicinal plants - a within-country comparison of Italian speaking regions with north-western German speaking regions
BACKGROUND:
Ethnoveterinary knowledge in Europe may play an important role as a basis for sustainable treatment options for livestock. Aims of our study were (a) to compare the ethnoveterinary practices of two culturally and sociodemographically different regions of Switzerland, (b) to compare results with earlier ethnoveterinary studies conducted in Switzerland and in adjacent Italian regions and, (c) to evaluate possible reasons for regional differences in European ethnoveterinary medicine.
METHODS:
25 interviews were conducted in 2014 in all Italian speaking regions (ItR) of Switzerland, and 31 interviews were held in five north-western German speaking Cantons (GeC). Semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect detailed information regarding plant species, mode of preparation, dosage, route of administration, category of use, origin of knowledge, frequency of use, and satisfaction with outcomes of the treatments.
RESULTS:
A total of 162 homemade remedies in ItR and 219 in GeC were reported, out of which 125 and 145, respectively, were reported to contain only one plant species (homemade single species herbal remedy report, HSHR). 44 ItR and 43 GeC plant species were reported to treat livestock, of which only a half were used in both regions. For each HSHR, we classified the treatment intention of all use reports (UR), leading to a total of 205 and 219 UR in ItR and GeC respectively. While cattle were the most often treated livestock species in both study regions, in ItR 40% of UR were administered to small ruminants. Main indications in both regions were gastrointestinal diseases and skin afflictions, but in ItR a high number of URs were reported as antiparasitics. URs were mainly handed down from the past generation, but in GeC the source of knowledge for 20% of URs were from courses. Regarding the used plant species, ItR showed a higher concordance with Swiss than Italian studies, but with some differences to all regions. A total of 22 (14 ItR; 8 GeC) plant species in this study have not been reported before in ethnoveterinary studies of Swiss and Italian alpine regions.
CONCLUSIONS:
ItR and GeC, show differences and similarities with respect to their own ethnoveterinary practices and earlier Swiss and Italian ethnoveterinary studies. Linguistic, geographical, as well as social and farm-structural conditions influence the regional ethnoveterinary knowledge. However, political borders seem to be more important than language or geographical barriers
Zwei Jahre pro-Q – Bilanz eines biokonformen Eutergesundheitsprogrammes
The pro-q-project is an udder health programme especially for organic farmers under Swiss conditions. The aim is to minimize the use of s antibiotics and to assure a good udder health state on the farms. At the end of the third project year of 100 project farms 16 participate for more than two years. The udder health situation of these 16 farms improved moderately in the second project year (37% of the cows with a so-matic cell count > 100’000/ml) compared to the year before project start (40% of the cows with a somatic cell count > 100’000/ml). Furthermore, a nearly linear increase of the arithmetic mean of herd lactation number (3.27 year before project start, 3.33 first project year, 3.44 second project year, resp.) could be found. The number of antibiotic treatments per cow and year decreased from 0.37 in the year before project start to 0.24 in the second project year
Management factors affecting udder health and effects of a one year extension program in organic dairy herds
The first part of this study was a cross-sectional analysis of the impact of 29 management factors on udder health in organic dairy farms in Switzerland. All 77 farms joined the extension program ‘pro-Q'. As a measure of udder health the theoretical bulk milk somatic cell count (TBMSCC) calculated by the monthly cow composite somatic cell count over a time period of 1 year was chosen. The basic udder health of the farms was determined by TBMSCC during the year prior to the start of the project (mean for all farms = 176 460 cells/ml). In the multivariable analysis, the five factors ‘swiss brown breed', ‘alpine summer pasturing', ‘calf feeding with milk from mastitis diseased cows', ‘hard bedding' and ‘no post-milking' remained as significant risk factors on udder health. In the second part of the study, the development of management factors and the udder health situation affected by an extension program after 1 year was investigated. A partial improvement of the management factors on the farms but no overall improvement on udder health and no association between management changes and udder health changes were found. Improvement of udder health was more likely in farms with higher basic TBMSCC than in those farms with less udder health problems at the beginning of the projec
Probing liquid surface waves, liquid properties and liquid films with light diffraction
Surface waves on liquids act as a dynamical phase grating for incident light.
In this article, we revisit the classical method of probing such waves
(wavelengths of the order of mm) as well as inherent properties of liquids and
liquid films on liquids, using optical diffraction. A combination of simulation
and experiment is proposed to trace out the surface wave profiles in various
situations (\emph{eg.} for one or more vertical, slightly immersed,
electrically driven exciters). Subsequently, the surface tension and the
spatial damping coefficient (related to viscosity) of a variety of liquids are
measured carefully in order to gauge the efficiency of measuring liquid
properties using this optical probe. The final set of results deal with liquid
films where dispersion relations, surface and interface modes, interfacial
tension and related issues are investigated in some detail, both theoretically
and experimentally. On the whole, our observations and analyses seem to support
the claim that this simple, low--cost apparatus is capable of providing a
wealth of information on liquids and liquid surface waves in a non--destructive
way.Comment: 25 pages, 12 figures, to appear in Measurement Science and Technology
(IOP
Administration of Silver Fir (Abies alba Mill.) to goats and its potential to control gastro-intestinal parasites
Gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) substantially impact on goat health. Because of the widespread development of GIN, resistant to allopathic drugs, further research into alternative parasite control methods is required [1]. Silver fir, Abies alba MILL (SF), is traditionally used by Swiss farmers in order to control GIN infections of goats but also to improve animal welfare. A survey among goat farmers revealed that goat farmers use SF in winter during a period of approximately five months. The SF-ration per animal and day differ between approximately 8.2 g dry matter (DM) to 600 g DM [2].
As there is scientific evidence neither for an anthelmintic potential nor for the feed intake and milk performance of SF, we conducted a study with 30 goats. For a 20 days feeding experiment one group of 15 goats (A) was, additionally to their basic ration, daily fed with SF. The remaining 15 goats (group B) were fed with the basic ration only. Individual faecal egg counts (FEC) were conducted of all goats. Furthermore the effects of SF on the intake of the basic ration, milk yield and ingredients were tested. Total phenols (TP) and essential oils (EO) of 12 representative samples of the administered SF were determined by steam distillation and GS-MS-Analytic, respectively.
SF contained 1,8 % TP. Limonene, bornyl acetate and beta caryophyllene were identified as the main EO. SF-feeding did not result in a reduction of GIN FEC (Fig 1). The intake of SF per animal and day was 261 +/- 0.22 g DM. Although SF reduced the basic forage intake significantly, SF increased the total DM intake significantly (A: 1948 +/- 93 g DM; B: 1797 +/- 93 g DM). SF feeding showed no effect on milk yield and milk components (Tab 1) [2].
Although farmers are convinced of the anthelmintic potential of SF, our short term study could not point to such an effect. It is possible that a prolonged period of SF administration is necessary in order for such effects to become apparent.
[1] Jackson, N. F. und Coop, R. L. (2000). The development of anthelmintic resistance in sheep nematodes. Parasitology, 120(07):95
[2] Giebler-Schubert, Frauke (2013). Einsatz von Weißtanne zur Reduktion des Magen-Darm-Strongyliden-Befalls bei Ziegen: In-vivo-Versuche und Erfahrungswissen, Universität Hohenhei
Dynamic Scaling and Two-Dimensional High-Tc Superconductors
There has been ongoing debate over the critical behavior of two-dimensional
superconductors; in particular for high Tc superconductors. The conventional
view is that a Kosterlitz-Thouless-Berezinskii transition occurs as long as
finite size effects do not obscure the transition. However, there have been
recent suggestions that a different transition actually occurs which
incorporates aspects of both the dynamic scaling theory of Fisher, Fisher, and
Huse and the Kosterlitz-Thouless-Berezinskii transition. Of general interest is
that this modified transition apparently has a universal dynamic critical
exponent. Some have countered that this apparent universal behavior is rooted
in a newly proposed finite-size scaling theory; one that also incorporates
scaling and conventional two-dimensional theory. To investigate these issues we
study DC voltage versus current data of a 12 angstrom thick YBCO film. We find
that the newly proposed scaling theories have intrinsic flexibility that is
relevant to the analysis of the experiments. In particular, the data scale
according to the modified transition for arbitrarily defined critical
temperatures between 0 K and 19.5 K, and the temperature range of a successful
scaling collapse is related directly to the sensitivity of the measurement.
This implies that the apparent universal exponent is due to the intrinsic
flexibility rather than some real physical property. To address this intrinsic
flexibility, we propose a criterion which would give conclusive evidence for
phase transitions in two-dimensional superconductors. We conclude by reviewing
results to see if our criterion is satisfied.Comment: 14 page
Towards a public policy of cities and human settlements in the 21st century
Cities and other human settlements are major contributors to climate change and are highly vulnerable to its impacts. They are also uniquely positioned to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lead adaptation efforts. These compound challenges and opportunities require a comprehensive perspective on the public policy of human settlements. Drawing on core literature that has driven debate around cities and climate over recent decades, we put forward a set of boundary objects that can be applied to connect the knowledge of epistemic communities and support an integrated urbanism. We then use these boundary objects to develop the Goals-Intervention-Stakeholder-Enablers (GISE) framework for a public policy of human settlements that is both place-specific and provides insights and tools useful for climate action in cities and other human settlements worldwide. Using examples from Berlin, we apply this framework to show that climate mitigation and adaptation, public health, and well-being goals are closely linked and mutually supportive when a comprehensive approach to urban public policy is applied
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