Ackerbohnen als Futterkomponente des ökologischen Landbaus für Masthühner-Elterntiere und verschiedene Mastbroilerherkünfte

Es wurden die Wirkungen ackerbohnenreicher Fütterung bei Hubbard ISA 57 Mastelterntieren und ihren Nachkommen sowie bei Mastbroilern der Herkünfte ISA 657, ISA 957 und ISA Red JA auf die Legeleistung, Bruteiqualität, Mast- und Schlachtleistung, die Futterverwertung sowie auf morphophysiologische und histomorphometrische Kenngrößen der Dünndarmmucosa, der Leber und des Pankreas unter den Bedingungen des Ökologischen Landbaus untersucht. Bei Mastelterntieren führten Vicin-/convicinreiche Ackerbohnen (15% im Futter) gegenüber vicin-/convicinarmen Ackerbohnen oder ackerbohnenfreier Kontrollfütterung zu verminderten Eigewichten, Bruteiqualitäten und Schlupfgewichten. Niedrigere Schlupfgewichte hatten zum Mastbeginn niedrigere Zunahmen der Küken zur Folge, die jedoch bis zum Ende einer 12wöchigen Mastperiode ausgeglichen wurden und ohne Einfluss auf die Schlachtleistungen blieben. Bei langsam wachsenden Mastbroilern verschiedener genetischer Herkunft wirkten sich Ackerbohnen (bis 30% im Futter) mit hohen oder niedrigen Gehalten an Vicin und/oder Tanninen nicht unterschiedlich auf die Futterakzeptanz sowie die Mast- und Schlachtleistungen aus. Histomorphometrische Messungen an der Dünndarmmucosa und histomorphologische Untersuchungen der Lebern zeigten keine pathologischen Veränderungen bei den Tieren, deuten jedoch darauf hin, dass die tannin- und vicin-/convicinreiche Ackerbohnensorte gegenüber vicin-/convicin- bzw. tanninarmen Ackerbohnen eine geringere intermediäre Energie- und Nährstoffverfügbarkeit für die Retention im Tierkörper zur Folge hatte. Aufgrund der Ergebnisse können Mastelterntiere ohne Leistungseinbußen mit deutlich höheren als bislang empfohlenen Mengen an Ackerbohnen gefüttert werden, sofern vicin /convicinarme Sorten Verwendung finden. Bei langsam wachsenden Mastbroilern sind im Ökologischen Landbau bis zu 30% Ackerbohnen im Futter problemlos einsetzbar

Thyroid hormones correlate with field metabolic rate in ponies, Equus ferus caballus

Acknowledgments The authors thank Jürgen Dörl for technical help and for taking care of the animals and Peter Thompson for technical assistance with the doubly labelled water analysis. Funding The study was supported by a grant from the German Research Foundation (DFG;GE 704/13-1).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Multiplex optical biosensors based on multi-pinhole interferometry

The application of new sensor technologies for frequent biomarker monitoring in combination with the leverage of artificial intelligence has great potential to improve the design and safety of health care. With current research efforts, the screening of tens of biomarkers at the point of care and immediate adjustment of therapy is coming within reach. Here we introduce an optical multiplexing approach based on multi-pinhole interference providing inherent differential referencing between a multitude of measurement fields on a surface. A theoretical study of an 11-plex and a 54-plex design is complemented with the experimental demonstration of the technique for a 3-field refractive index measurements and detection of human α-thrombin

Effect of localized current distributions in periodically nanostructured OLEDs on the resonant light outcoupling

We present an electrical and optical model for simulating the current distribution in and the resonant light emission from nanostructured organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). A periodic nanostructure in an OLED can be used as a resonant waveguide grating to tailor the light emission, i.e., to direct the dominant emission wavelength into a specific direction. We show that the current injection at nanostructured electrodes is strongly enhanced at their corners, leading to localized current paths and emission zones. These current paths have to be overlapping with the resonant optical field hot spots in order to gain maximal resonant light outcoupling. We show that this is not generally the case for periodically nanostructured OLEDs and that the introduction of local isolation layers can improve the overlap by altering the current paths. Depending on the isolation layer configuration either the resonant or non-resonant light outcoupling is pronounced. This optimization potential may be beneficial for compact organic optoelectronic sensors that require highly directional OLED emission

Injection-limited and space charge-limited currents in organic semiconductor devices with nanopatterned metal electrodes

Charge injection at metal-organic interfaces often limits the electric current in organic light-emitting diodes without additional injection layers. Integrated nanopatterned electrodes may provide a way to overcome this current injection limit by local field enhancements leading to locally space charge-limited currents. We compare electrical characteristics of planar and nanopatterned hole-only devices based on the charge transport material NPB with different thicknesses in order to investigate the nanopattern's effect on the current limitation mechanism. Integration of a periodic nanograting into the metal electrode yields a current increase of about 1.5-4 times, depending on thickness and operating voltage. To verify the experimental results, we implement a finite element simulation model that solves the coupled Poisson and drift-diffusion equations in a weak form. It includes space charges, drift and diffusion currents, nonlinear mobility, and charge injection at the boundaries. We find in experiment and simulation that the planar devices exhibit injection-limited currents, whereas the currents in the nanopatterned devices are dominated by space charge effects, overcoming the planar injection limit. The simulations show space charge accumulations at the corners of the nanopattern, confirming the idea of locally space charge-limited currents

Extraction of Soil Solution into a Microfluidic Chip

Collecting real-time data on physical and chemical parameters of the soil is a prerequisite for resource-efficient and environmentally sustainable agriculture. For continuous in situ measurement of soil nutrients such as nitrate or phosphate, a lab-on-chip approach combined with wireless remote readout is promising. For this purpose, the soil solution, i.e., the water in the soil with nutrients, needs to be extracted into a microfluidic chip. Here, we present a soil-solution extraction unit based on combining a porous ceramic filter with a microfluidic channel with a 12 µL volume. The microfluidic chip was fabricated from polydimethylsiloxane, had a size of 1.7 cm × 1.7 cm × 0.6 cm, and was bonded to a glass substrate. A hydrophilic aluminum oxide ceramic with approximately 37 Vol.-% porosity and an average pore size of 1 µm was integrated at the inlet. Soil water was extracted successfully from three types of soil—silt, garden soil, and sand—by creating suction with a pump at the other end of the microfluidic channel. For garden soil, the extraction rate at approximately 15 Vol.-% soil moisture was 1.4 µL/min. The amount of extracted water was investigated for 30 min pump intervals for the three soil types at different moisture levels. For garden soil and sand, water extraction started at around 10 Vol.-% soil moisture. Silt showed the highest water-holding capacity, with water extraction starting at approximately 13 Vol.-

Two-Dimensional Nanograting Fabrication by Multistep Nanoimprint Lithography and Ion Beam Etching

The application of nanopatterned electrode materials is a promising method to improve the performance of thin-film optoelectronic devices such as organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and organic photovoltaics. Light coupling to active layers is enhanced by employing nanopatterns specifically tailored to the device structure. A range of different nanopatterns is typically evaluated during the development process. Fabrication of each of these nanopatterns using electron-beam lithography is time- and cost-intensive, particularly for larger-scale devices, due to the serial nature of electron beam writing. Here, we present a method to generate nanopatterns of varying depth with different nanostructure designs from a single one-dimensional grating template structure with fixed grating depth. We employ multiple subsequent steps of UV nanoimprint lithography, curing, and ion beam etching to fabricate greyscale two-dimensional nanopatterns. In this work, we present variable greyscale nanopatterning of the widely used electrode material indium tin oxide. We demonstrate the fabrication of periodic pillar-like nanostructures with different period lengths and heights in the two grating directions. The patterned films can be used either for immediate device fabrication or pattern reproduction by conventional nanoimprint lithography. Pattern reproduction is particularly interesting for the large-scale, cost-efficient fabrication of flexible optoelectronic device

Optical waveguides with compound multiperiodic grating nanostructures for refractive index sensing

The spectral characteristics and refractive index sensitivity of compound multiperiodic grating waveguides are investigated in theory and experiment. Compound gratings are formed by superposition of two or more monoperiodic gratings. Compared to monoperiodic photonic crystal waveguides, compound grating waveguides offer more degrees of design freedom by choice of component grating periods and duty cycles. Refractive index sensing is achieved by evaluating the wavelength or intensity of guided mode resonances in the reflection spectrum. We designed, fabricated, and characterized 24 different compound multiperiodic nanostructured waveguides for refractive index sensing. Simulations are carried out with the Rigorous Coupled Wave Algorithm (RCWA). The resulting spectra, resonance sensitivities, and quality factors are compared to monoperiodic as well as to three selected aperiodic nanostructures (Rudin-Shapiro, Fibonacci, and Thue-Morse). The refractive index sensitivity of the TE resonances is similar for all types of investigated nanostructures. For the TM resonances the compound multiperiodic nanostructures exhibit higher sensitivity values compared to the monoperiodic nanostructure and similar values as the aperiodic nanostructures. No significant influence of the compound grating duty cycles on the sensitivity is observed

Seasonal changes in energy expenditure, body temperature and activity patterns in llamas (Lama glama)

The authors thank Knut Salzmann und Arne Oppermann for technical help and for taking care of the animals and Anna Stölzl for help with the administering of the ruminal unit of the telemetry system. The study was supported by a grant from the German Research Foundation (DFG) to A.R. (RI 1796/3-1).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Signal-to-noise ratio enhanced electrode configurations for magnetoelectric cantilever sensors

Magnetoelectric cantilevers consisting of strain-coupled magnetostrictive and piezoelectric (PE) layers are applicable to magnetic-fi eld sens- ing. For the fi rst bending mode, the magnetic fi eld-induced stress distribution is of equal sign along the cantilever length. Thus, a plate- capacitor electrode configuration encompassing the complete PE layer may be used for collecting the strain-induced charge. For higher order modes, stress regions of the opposite sign occur in the cantilever length direction. To prevent charge cancellation and to harvest the piezo- electric induced charge effi ciently, segmented electrodes are employed. This study investigates the effect of the electrode confi gurationon the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for higher order bending modes. The charges collected by the electrodes are calculated using a fi nite element method simulation considering the mechanical, electrical, and magnetic properties of the cantilever. By combination with an analytic noise model, taking into account the sensor and amplifi er noise sources, the SNR is obtained. We analyze a 3 mm long, 1 mm wide, and 50 μm thick silicon cantilever with layers of 2 μm magnetostrictive soft amorphous metal (FeCoSiB) and 2 μm piezoelectric aluminum nitride. We demonstrate that an SNR-optimized electrode design yields an SNR improvement by 2.3 dB and 2.4 dB for the second and third bending modes compared to a signal optimized design