Animal breeding in organic farming

After a general introduction into the available breeding techniques for animal breeding and an overview of the organic principles, points for discussion are identified and scenario's for organically accepted breeding methods are discussed

Konsum ökologischer Milch aus gesundheitlichen Gründen - Eine qualitative Erhebung auf deutschen Demeter Milchviehbetrieben und bei ihren Kunden

Supposedly beneficial nutritional compositions were found in organic milk. Studies report that the consumption of organic milk products affects health eg. prevention of eczema in children. Single cases describe a better digestibility of organic milk for consumers suffering from diverse atopic disorders and food allergies. To clarify whether this is a real phenomenon, a survey in combination with interviews was carried out on bio-dynamic milk farms and with affected consumers in Germany. The results show that there are consumers which are buying fresh bio-dynamic raw milk because of a better personal digestibility

Dual-FOV Raman and Doppler lidar studies of aerosol-cloud interactions : Simultaneous profiling of aerosols, warm-cloud properties, and vertical wind

Date of Acceptance: 24/04/2014 This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are madeFor the first time, colocated dual-field of view (dual-FOV) Raman lidar and Doppler lidar observations (case studies) of aerosol and cloud optical and microphysical properties below and within thin layered liquid water clouds are presented together with an updraft and downdraft characterization at cloud base. The goal of this work is to investigate the relationship between aerosol load close to cloud base and cloud characteristics of warm (purely liquid) clouds and the study of the influence of vertical motions and turbulent mixing on this relationship. We further use this opportunity to illustrate the applicability of the novel dual-FOV Raman lidar in this field of research. The dual-FOV lidar combines the well-established multiwavelength Raman lidar technique for aerosol retrievals and the multiple-scattering Raman lidar technique for profiling of the single-scattering extinction coefficient, effective radius, number concentration of the cloud droplets, and liquid water content. Key findings of our 3 year observations are presented in several case studies of optically thin altocumulus layers occurring in the lower free troposphere between 2.5 and 4 km height over Leipzig, Germany, during clean and polluted situations. For the clouds that we observed, the most direct link between aerosol proxy (particle extinction coefficient) and cloud proxy (cloud droplet number concentration) was found at cloud base during updraft periods. Above cloud base, additional processes resulting from turbulent mixing and entrainment of dry air make it difficult to determine the direct impact of aerosols on cloud processes.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Paleotectonic control of reservoir facies

The basement structural fabric of the Paradox basin affected sedimentary facies throughout Phanerozoic time. Continental-scale basement wrench-fault zones were rejuvenated repeatedly throughout the Paleozoic. The Paradox pull-apart evaporite basin was formed along the northwest-southeast-trending Paradox-Wichita lineament in Middle Pennsylvanian time, facilitated by basement faults of the northeast-southwest-trending Colorado lineament. Structurally controlled shoaling conditions, formed by reactivation of basement faults, fostered marine sandstone reservoirs in Late Devonian time, crinoidal buildups in the Early Mississippian, and phylloid-algae mounds in Middle Pennsylvanian time. Apparently similar basement wrench-fault zones are present in Kansas. The midcontinent rift system is a north-northeast-south-southwest-trending fault zone that was reactivated during the Paleozoic. Northwest-southeast-trending faults along the Central Kansas-Bourbon arch complex appear to have offset structures of the midcontinent rift. Both trends are interpreted to be continental-scale conjugate wrench-fault zones with sinistral displacement along the midcontinent rift and dextral displacement along the Central Kansas-Bourbon arch complex. Stratigraphic relationships suggest repeated reactivation before Pennsylvanian uplift and erosion along the major structures. In both regions major structural lineaments are associated with smaller-scale fault patterns. Reactivation of these structures through time created paleotectonic trapping conditions at several stratigraphic intervals. Evidence is accumulating in Kansas that tectonically controlled paleotopography and paleobathymetry are major predictable factors in reservoir localization. Recognition of reactivated basement structural fabrics can provide* significant constraints on reservoir characterization and modeling

Paleotectonic control of reservoir facies

The basement structural fabric of the Paradox basin affected sedimentary facies throughout Phanerozoic time. Continental-scale basement wrench-fault zones were rejuvenated repeatedly throughout the Paleozoic. The Paradox pull-apart evaporite basin was formed along the northwest-southeast-trending Paradox-Wichita lineament in Middle Pennsylvanian time, facilitated by basement faults of the northeast-southwest-trending Colorado lineament. Structurally controlled shoaling conditions, formed by reactivation of basement faults, fostered marine sandstone reservoirs in Late Devonian time, crinoidal buildups in the Early Mississippian, and phylloid-algae mounds in Middle Pennsylvanian time. Apparently similar basement wrench-fault zones are present in Kansas. The midcontinent rift system is a north-northeast-south-southwest-trending fault zone that was reactivated during the Paleozoic. Northwest-southeast-trending faults along the Central Kansas-Bourbon arch complex appear to have offset structures of the midcontinent rift. Both trends are interpreted to be continental-scale conjugate wrench-fault zones with sinistral displacement along the midcontinent rift and dextral displacement along the Central Kansas-Bourbon arch complex. Stratigraphic relationships suggest repeated reactivation before Pennsylvanian uplift and erosion along the major structures. In both regions major structural lineaments are associated with smaller-scale fault patterns. Reactivation of these structures through time created paleotectonic trapping conditions at several stratigraphic intervals. Evidence is accumulating in Kansas that tectonically controlled paleotopography and paleobathymetry are major predictable factors in reservoir localization. Recognition of reactivated basement structural fabrics can provide* significant constraints on reservoir characterization and modeling

Continuous monitoring of the boundary-layer top with lidar

International audienceContinuous lidar observations of the top height of the boundary layer (BL top) have been performed at Leipzig (51.3° N, 12.4° E), Germany, since August 2005. The results of measurements taken with a compact, automated Raman lidar over a one-year period (February 2006 to January 2007) are presented. Four different methods for the determination of the BL top are discussed. The most promising technique, the wavelet covariance algorithm, is improved by implementing some modifications so that an automated, robust retrieval of BL depths from lidar data is possible. Three case studies of simultaneous observations with the Raman lidar, a vertical-wind Doppler lidar, and accompanying radiosonde profiling of temperature and humidity are discussed to demonstrate the potential and the limits of the four lidar techniques at different aerosol and meteorological conditions. The lidar-derived BL top heights are compared with respective values derived from predictions of the regional weather forecast model COSMO of the German Meteorological Service. The comparison shows a general underestimation of the BL top by about 20% by the model. The statistical analysis of the one-year data set reveals that the seasonal mean of the daytime maximum BL top is 1400 m in spring, 1800 m in summer, 1200 m in autumn, and 800 m in winter at the continental, central European site. BL top typically increases by 100?300 m per hour in the morning of convective days

Application of adaptive multilevel splitting to high-dimensional dynamical systems

Stochastic nonlinear dynamical systems can undergo rapid transitions relative to the change in their forcing, for example due to the occurrence of multiple equilibrium solutions for a specific interval of parameters. In this paper, we modify one of the methods developed to compute probabilities of such transitions, Trajectory-Adaptive Multilevel Sampling (TAMS), to be able to apply it to high-dimensional systems. The key innovation is a projected time-stepping approach, which leads to a strong reduction in computational costs, in particular memory usage. The performance of this new implementation of TAMS is studied through an example of the collapse of the Atlantic Ocean Circulation

Evaluation of the ALMA Prototype Antennas

The ALMA North American and European prototype antennas have been evaluated by a variety of measurement systems to quantify the major performance specifications. Nearfield holography was used to set the reflector surfaces to 17 microns RMS. Pointing and fast switching performance was determined with an optical telescope and by millimeter wavelength radiometry, yielding 2 arcsec absolute and 0.6 arcsec offset pointing accuracies. Path length stability was measured to be less than or approximately equal to 20 microns over 10 minute time periods using optical measurement devices. Dynamical performance was studied with a set of accelerometers, providing data on wind induced tracking errors and structural deformation. Considering all measurements made during this evaluation, both prototype antennas meet the major ALMA antenna performance specifications.Comment: 83 pages, 36 figures, AASTex format, to appear in PASP September 2006 issu