Vorratsschutz im Ökologischen Landbau: Entscheidungshilfe durch das Computerprogramm VOEL 1.0

VOEL 1.0 is a decision-support software for the protection of organic stored-products that was developed for store-keepers, farmers and pest control specialists in Ger-many. Most of the information given applies to all Central European countries, except for some legislative aspects concerning registration, which are specific for Germany. The program contains a decision-support module for monitoring and control of stored product pest, an encyclopedia on pests and beneficial organisms, a key for the deter-mination of these organisms, information on registered products for stored product protection in Germany, a data bank where literature concerning associations of pests and beneficials can be retrieved, a list of references on stored product protection in general and several original papers on stored-product protection

Does U.S. Federal Employment Law Now Cover Caste Discrimination Based on Untouchability?: If All Else Fails There Is the Possible Application of Bostock v. Clayton County

This article discusses the issue of whether a victim of caste discrimination based on untouchability can assert a claim of intentional employment discrimination under Title VII or Section 1981. This article contends that there are legitimate arguments that this form of discrimination is a form of religious discrimination under Title VII. The question of whether caste discrimination is a form of race or national origin discrimination under Title VII or Section 1981 depends upon how the courts apply these definitions to caste discrimination based on untouchability. There are legitimate arguments that this form of discrimination is recognized within the concept of race discrimination or national origin discrimination under Title VII or race discrimination under Section 1981. However, if courts reject these conclusions, the approach adopted by the Supreme Court in its June 2020 decision in Bostock v Clayton County would provide another potent legal argument for recognizing such discrimination. The Bostock approach avoids the question of whether caste discrimination based on untouchability is a form of national origin or racial discrimination. This approach draws on the Supreme Court’s recognition that the “but-for” causation standard applies under both Title VII and Section 1981. The but-for test directs us to change one thing at a time and see if the outcome changes. If it does, we have found a but-for cause. And, multiple but-for causes can exist. Applying this approach to intentional employment discrimination against gays, lesbians or transgender individuals, the Supreme Court pointed out that such a person’s sex is inextricably intertwined with their other status. The Court concluded that discrimination against a person because they are gay, lesbian or transgender means that you are discriminating against such a person based on that status, which is not protected, and their sex, which is. Thus, under the Bostock approach, because all of those who are victims of caste discrimination based on untouchability are from Asia, their caste is inextricably intertwined with their race. As a result, when Dalits are victims of intentional discrimination based on untouchabilty, the discriminator is motivated to discriminate against them because of their caste, which is not a protected trait, and their race, which is. Thus, intentional caste discrimination inevitably also involves race discrimination under both Title VII and Section 1981

Comparison of level discrimination, increment detection, and comodulation masking release in the audio- and envelope-frequency domains

In general, the temporal structure of stimuli must be considered to account for certain observations made in detection and masking experiments in the audio-frequency domain. Two such phenomena are (1) a heightened sensitivity to amplitude increments with a temporal fringe compared to gated level discrimination performance and (2) lower tone-in-noise detection thresholds using a modulated masker compared to those using an unmodulated masker. In the current study, translations of these two experiments were carried out to test the hypothesis that analogous cues might be used in the envelope-frequency domain. Pure-tone carrier amplitude-modulation (AM) depth-discrimination thresholds were found to be similar using both traditional gated stimuli and using a temporally modulated fringe for a fixed standard depth (m(s)=0.25) and a range of AM frequencies (4-64 Hz). In a second experiment, masked sinusoidal AM detection thresholds were compared in conditions with and without slow and regular fluctuations imposed on the instantaneous masker AM depth. Release from masking was obtained only for very slow masker fluctuations (less than 2 Hz). A physiologically motivated model that effectively acts as a first-order envelope change detector accounted for several, but not all, of the key aspects of the data

Spectroscopic Properties of a Biologically Relevant [Fe2(μ-O)2] Diamond Core Motif with a Short Iron-Iron Distance

Diiron cofactors in enzymes perform diverse challenging transformations. The structures of high valent intermediates (Q in methane monooxygenase and X in ribonucleotide reductase) are debated since Fe−Fe distances of 2.5–3.4 Å were attributed to “open” or “closed” cores with bridging or terminal oxido groups. We report the crystallographic and spectroscopic characterization of a FeIII2(μ-O)2 complex (2) with tetrahedral (4C) centres and short Fe−Fe distance (2.52 Å), persisting in organic solutions. 2 shows a large Fe K-pre-edge intensity, which is caused by the pronounced asymmetry at the TD FeIII centres due to the short Fe−μ−O bonds. A ≈2.5 Å Fe−Fe distance is unlikely for six-coordinate sites in Q or X, but for a Fe2(μ-O)2 core containing four-coordinate (or by possible extension five-coordinate) iron centres there may be enough flexibility to accommodate a particularly short Fe−Fe separation with intense pre-edge transition. This finding may broaden the scope of models considered for the structure of high-valent diiron intermediates formed upon O2 activation in biology

Heteroepitaxial growth of ferromagnetic MnSb(0001) films on Ge/Si(111) virtual substrates

Molecular beam epitaxial growth of ferromagnetic MnSb(0001) has been achieved on high quality, fully relaxed Ge(111)/Si(111) virtual substrates grown by reduced pressure chemical vapor deposition. The epilayers were characterized using reflection high energy electron diffraction, synchrotron hard X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoemission spectroscopy, and magnetometry. The surface reconstructions, magnetic properties, crystalline quality, and strain relaxation behavior of the MnSb films are similar to those of MnSb grown on GaAs(111). In contrast to GaAs substrates, segregation of substrate atoms through the MnSb film does not occur, and alternative polymorphs of MnSb are absent

Operando tracking of oxidation-state changes by coupling electrochemistry with time-resolved X-ray absorption spectroscopy demonstrated for water oxidation by a cobalt-based catalyst film

Transition metal oxides are promising electrocatalysts for water oxidation, i.e., the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), which is critical in electrochemical production of non-fossil fuels. The involvement of oxidation state changes of the metal in OER electrocatalysis is increasingly recognized in the literature. Tracing these oxidation states under operation conditions could provide relevant information for performance optimization and development of durable catalysts, but further methodical developments are needed. Here, we propose a strategy to use single-energy X-ray absorption spectroscopy for monitoring metal oxidation-state changes during OER operation with millisecond time resolution. The procedure to obtain time-resolved oxidation state values, using two calibration curves, is explained in detail. We demonstrate the significance of this approach as well as possible sources of data misinterpretation. We conclude that the combination of X-ray absorption spectroscopy with electrochemical techniques allows us to investigate the kinetics of redox transitions and to distinguish the catalytic current from the redox current. Tracking of the oxidation state changes of Co ions in electrodeposited oxide films during cyclic voltammetry in neutral pH electrolyte serves as a proof of principle