Kappa-symmetric deformations of M5-brane dynamics

We calculate the first supersymmetric and kappa-symmetric derivative deformation of the M5-brane worldvolume theory in a flat eleven-dimensional background. By applying cohomological techniques we obtain a deformation of the standard constraint of the superembedding formalism. The first possible deformation of the constraint and hence the equations of motion arises at cubic order in fields and fourth order in a fundamental length scale $l$. The deformation is unique up to this order. In particular this rules out any induced Einstein-Hilbert terms on the worldvolume. We explicitly calculate corrections to the equations of motion for the tensor gauge supermultiplet.Comment: 17 pages. Additional comments in section

String Loop Corrections to Kahler Potentials in Orientifolds

We determine one-loop string corrections to Kahler potentials in type IIB orientifold compactifications with either N=1 or N=2 supersymmetry, including D-brane moduli, by evaluating string scattering amplitudes.Comment: 80 pages, 4 figure

Repräsentative SMART-Nachhaltigkeitsbewertung der Bio Suisse-Betriebe. Kurzbericht 2018

Die Knospe gilt als Garant für eine nachhaltige Landwirtschaft. Doch wie nachhaltig wirtschaften die Knospe-Höfe tatsächlich,was läuft gut, wo gibt es Verbesserungspotential? Diesen Fragen gingen das FiBL und die SFS im Auftrag von Bio Suisse auf den Grund. Zum Einsatz kam dabei SMART (Sustainability Monitoring and Assessment RouTine), ein Instrument, welches das FiBL zur ganzheitlichen Nachhaltigkeitsanalyse und Bewertung von landwirtschaftlichen Betrieben und Lebensmittelunternehmen entwickelt hat. Die Bewertung beruht auf einer Betriebsbesichtigung und einem etwa zwei- bis dreistündigen Interview mit den Betriebsleitern zu verschiedenen für die Landwirtschaft relevanten Themenbereichen. Innerhalb von drei Jahren wurden so 185 Höfe auf ihre Nachhaltigkeit hin untersucht. Die Stichprobe wurde so gewählt, dass alle Betriebstypen und Landwirtschaftszonen abgebildet wurden. Zu den Projektzielen gehörten: - Repräsentative Bewertung der Nachhaltigkeitsleistungen der Knospe-Betriebe durch eine externe Institution. - Ermöglichung der kontinuierlichen Entwicklung der Betriebe und Sicherstellung der Zukunftsfähigkeit der Bio Suisse Betriebe sowie der Marke Knospe. - Erarbeitung einer glaubwürdigen Informationsbasis zur Kommunikation der Nachhaltigkeit von Knospe-Betrieben. Die Ergebnisse sollen sowohl für die Verbesserung des Beratungs- und Schulungsangebots im Bereich Nachhaltigkeit als auch für die strategische Weiterentwicklung des Verbands genutzt werden

Automatic guiding of the primary image of solar Gregory telescopes

The primary image reflected from the field-stop of solar Gregory telescopes is used for automatic guiding. This new system avoids temporal varying influences from the bending of the telescope tube by the main mirror's gravity and from offsets between the telescope and a separate guiding refractor. The required stiffness of the guider mechanics and the small areas of the sensors demand small f-numbers for the guider optics, which cause problems with the image quality and with heat. Problems also arise from the imaging of the pinhole in the telescope's field stop. The corresponding lack of image information at that location can be reduced numerically by Fourier methods much more effectively than with profile centering methods. Several types of such guiders are tested, a final equipment, now installed at the Gregory telescopes at Tenerife and at Locarno, is described

Surface wettability and energy effects on the biological performance of poly-3-hydroxybutyrate films treated with RF plasma

The surface properties of poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (P3HB) membranes were modified using oxygen and an ammonia radio-frequency (RF, 13.56 MHz) plasma. The plasma treatment procedures used in the study only affected the surface properties, including surface topography, without inducing any significant changes in the crystalline structure of the polymer, with the exception being a power level of 250 W. The wettability of the modified P3HB surfaces was significantly increased after the plasma treatment, irrespective of the treatment procedure used. It was revealed that both surface chemistry and surface roughness changes caused by the plasma treatment affected surface wettability. A treatment-induced surface ageing effect was observed and resulted in an increase in the water contact angle and a decrease in the surface free energy. However, the difference in the water contact angle between the polymers that had been treated for 4 weeks and the untreated polymer surfaces was still significant. A dependence between cell adhesion and proliferation and the polar component of the surface energy was revealed. The increase in the polar component after the ammonia plasma modification significantly increased cell adhesion and proliferation on biodegradable polymer surfaces compared to the untreated P3HB and the P3HB modified using an oxygen plasma

Electromagnetic Calorimeter for HADES

We propose to build the Electromagnetic calorimeter for the HADES di-lepton spectrometer. It will enable to measure the data on neutral meson production from nucleus-nucleus collisions, which are essential for interpretation of dilepton data, but are unknown in the energy range of planned experiments (2-10 GeV per nucleon). The calorimeter will improve the electron-hadron separation, and will be used for detection of photons from strange resonances in elementary and HI reactions. Detailed description of the detector layout, the support structure, the electronic readout and its performance studied via Monte Carlo simulations and series of dedicated test experiments is presented. The device will cover the total area of about 8 m^2 at polar angles between 12 and 45 degrees with almost full azimuthal coverage. The photon and electron energy resolution achieved in test experiments amounts to 5-6%/sqrt(E[GeV]) which is sufficient for the eta meson reconstruction with S/B ratio of 0.4% in Ni+Ni collisions at 8 AGeV. A purity of the identified leptons after the hadron rejection, resulting from simulations based on the test measurements, is better than 80% at momenta above 500 MeV/c, where time-of-flight cannot be used.Comment: 40 pages, 38 figures version2 - the time schedule added, information about PMTs in Sec.III update

Induced Gravity on Intersecting Branes

We establish Einstein-Hilbert gravity couplings in the effective action for Intersecting Brane Worlds. The four-dimensional induced Planck mass is determined by calculating graviton scattering amplitudes at one-loop in the string perturbation expansion. We derive a general formula linking the induced Planck mass for N=1 supersymmetric backgrounds directly to the string partition function. We carry out the computation explicitly for simple examples, obtaining analytic expressions.Comment: references added, minor changes to discussion of path integral normalization on page