High precision real-time location estimates in a real-life barn environment using a commercial ultra wideband chip

Structural changes lead to an increase in the number of dairy cows and dry sows kept per group. This has consequences in how easily a farmer can supervise his herd and may be detrimental to animal welfare, specifically regarding social relations, time budget and area of residence. An automated tracking system can support the farmer in his management activities and can provide the foundation for a scientific assessment of the welfare consequences of large groups. In this study, a relatively simple and inexpensive real time location system (RTLS) was developed with the aim of achieving precise localization of several tags (animals) in real time and in a real barn environment. The RTLS was based on the ultra-wideband (UWB) technology provided by DecaWave and was adapted for a time difference of arrival (TDoA) procedure to estimate the tags’ positions. The RTLS can handle up to a hundred tags simultaneously using a Pure ALOHA random access method at 1-second intervals. The localization of the tags was estimated in 2D on a given fixed height using a constrained Gauss-Newton algorithm to increase accuracy and stability. The performance of the overall system was evaluated in two different dairy barns. To determine the precision of the system, static and dynamic positions measured at withers height of a cow (1.5 m) and closer to the ground mimicking a lying cow were compared with a reference system (theodolite). The 2D deviations between the systems were used as a measure of precision. In addition, the scalability in respect to the number of tags and the size of the observed area was examined in situations with ten tags and the situation with 100 tags was simulated with a ten-fold increase in sampling rate. According to the field test, the system as developed can be used for the individual localization of animals. At withers height, most of the measured locations deviated less than 0.5 m from the localizations as measured by the theodolite. At lower heights, and closer to the corners of the observed area, some localization estimates were somewhat larger. This was also the case close to large metal barn infrastructure. The measured collision rate of 11% for 100 tags was low. In spite of its low price, the system as a whole is therefore promising and ready for a next step, which should include the observation of large groups of real animals on working farms

Fünf Jahre Bachelor FH in der Schweiz

Copyright ©Swiss Chemical Society: CHIMIA, 64(7/8), 617-620, 2010, https://doi.org/10.2533/chimia.2010.617Berufsbefähigung und Praxisorientierung, das sind die Merkmale der Chemiker und Chemikerinnen, die an den vier Fachhochschulen in der Schweiz zu Bachelors of Science ausgebildet werden. Die Ausbildung zum Chemiker ist an den Hochschulen unterschiedlich ausgeprägt und eingebettet. Gemeinsam ist den Programmen die Vermittlung einer soliden theoretischen und praktischen Ausbildung, die auf eine gute Arbeitsmarktfähigkeit der Studierenden abzielt. Die Leichtigkeit, mit der die Absolvierenden Stellen finden, weist darauf hin, dass die erworbenen Kompetenzen von der Industrie nachgefragt werden

IMAPlate Based Miniature, High Sensitive, Rapid Screening Method for Detecting Bioengineered, Secreted Lipase Activities in Yeast Expression Systems

A spectrophotometric assay based on a miniaturized 96-well plate device (IMAPlate) enables a rapid and simple screening of bioengineered recombinant lipases expressed and secreted by Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Starting from a colony, the test delivers a quantitative estimation of enzymatic activity titer in 24 h or less with manual high throughput performances

Enzymatic Synthesis of β-D-Glucuronides in an Enzyme Membrane Reactor

The production of two O-glucuronides in an enzyme membrane reactor on a 100 to 200 mg scale was examined. The aglycons were conjugated with the co-substrate β-D-uridine diphosphoglucuronic acid (UDPGA) in the presence of a guinea-pig liver preparation. The continuous synthesis, which was run in an enzyme membrane reactor, was followed depending on the substrate up to 118 hours or 24 hours, respectively. The reaction was monitored by TLC or HPLC. The purification of the two glucuronides was carried out by ion-exchange chromatography and by reversed-phase HPLC

How Technical Innovations May Help to Prevent Drug Shortages in Switzerland

In this work, we investigated the technical feasibility of 'on-demand' production of selected drugs to cover their demand for a time window of 90 days. We focused on two sub-processes 'automated chemical synthesis' and 'formulation in micropellets'  to enable personalized dosing. The production of drugs 'on-demand' is challenging, important, but also attractive. Switzerland could thus gain access to an additional instrument for increasing resilience for supply-critical drugs. The biggest challenge in the case study presented here is the scalability of automated chemical synthesis and the application range of micropellet formulations

Fünf Jahre Bachelor FH in der Schweiz

Berufsbefähigung und Praxisorientierung, das sind die Merkmale der Chemiker und Chemikerinnen, die an den vier Fachhochschulen in der Schweiz zu Bachelors of Science ausgebildet werden. Die Ausbildung zum Chemiker ist an den Hochschulen unterschiedlich ausgeprägt und eingebettet. Gemeinsam ist den Programmen die Vermittlung einer soliden theoretischen und praktischen Ausbildung, die auf eine gute Arbeitsmarktfähigkeit der Studierenden abzielt. Die Leichtigkeit, mit der die Absolvierenden Stellen finden, weist darauf hin, dass die erworbenen Kompetenzen von der Industrie nachgefragt werden.Offrir les qualifications professionnelles requises et garantir un enseignement axé sur la pratique sont les principales caractéristiques de la formation de Bachelor of Science proposée dans les quatre hautes écoles spécialisées de Suisse. La formation de chimiste présente des orientations qui varient d’une haute école à l’autre et est intégrée différemment dans l’offre de cours. La transmission de connaissances théoriques et pratiques solides garantissant aux étudiants les qualifications professionnelles nécessaires sur le marché du travail constitue le point commun des quatre filières. La facilité avec laquelle ceux-ci trouvent un emploi prouve que les compétences acquises dans les hautes écoles spécialisées sont utiles à l’industrie

Assessing the pathogenicity of insertion and deletion variants with the Variant Effect Scoring Tool (VEST-Indel)

Insertion/deletion variants (indels) alter protein sequence and length, yet are highly prevalent in healthy populations, presenting a challenge to bioinformatics classifiers. Commonly used features—DNA and protein sequence conservation, indel length, and occurrence in repeat regions—are useful for inference of protein damage. However, these features can cause false positives when predicting the impact of indels on disease. Existing methods for indel classification suffer from low specificities, severely limiting clinical utility. Here, we further develop our variant effect scoring tool (VEST) to include the classification of in-frame and frameshift indels (VEST-indel) as pathogenic or benign. We apply 24 features, including a new “PubMed” feature, to estimate a gene's importance in human disease. When compared with four existing indel classifiers, our method achieves a drastically reduced false-positive rate, improving specificity by as much as 90%. This approach of estimating gene importance might be generally applicable to missense and other bioinformatics pathogenicity predictors, which often fail to achieve high specificity. Finally, we tested all possible meta-predictors that can be obtained from combining the four different indel classifiers using Boolean conjunctions and disjunctions, and derived a meta-predictor with improved performance over any individual method

Development of a high sensitivity label free waveguide interferometry instrument : a project of Creoptix GmbH with the center for Biochemistry ZHAW as main research partner

Creoptix GmbH has developed a novel and innovative technology for label-free detection of molecules based on grating-coupled interferometry (GCI). GCI is a proprietary technology characterized by a very high sensitivity at low technical complexity. One main application will be the measurement of binding affinities in research and development projects such as drug discovery. Goal of an interdisciplinary CTI project with the partners from ZHAW, FHNW and CSEM together with Creoptix is the development of a first GCI instrument including disposables and the optimization of its functionality, followed by field tests to pave the way to market introduction

A Multi-Lab Test of the Facial Feedback Hypothesis by the Many Smiles Collaboration

Following theories of emotional embodiment, the facial feedback hypothesis suggests that individuals’ subjective experiences of emotion are influenced by their facial expressions. However, evidence for this hypothesis has been mixed. We thus formed a global adversarial collaboration and carried out a preregistered, multicentre study designed to specify and test the conditions that should most reliably produce facial feedback effects. Data from n = 3,878 participants spanning 19 countries indicated that a facial mimicry and voluntary facial action task could both amplify and initiate feelings of happiness. However, evidence of facial feedback effects was less conclusive when facial feedback was manipulated unobtrusively via a pen-in-mouth task

A multi-lab test of the facial feedback hypothesis by the Many Smiles Collaboration

Following theories of emotional embodiment, the facial feedback hypothesis suggests that individuals' subjective experiences of emotion are influenced by their facial expressions. However, evidence for this hypothesis has been mixed. We thus formed a global adversarial collaboration and carried out a preregistered, multicentre study designed to specify and test the conditions that should most reliably produce facial feedback effects. Data from n = 3,878 participants spanning 19 countries indicated that a facial mimicry and voluntary facial action task could both amplify and initiate feelings of happiness. However, evidence of facial feedback effects was less conclusive when facial feedback was manipulated unobtrusively via a pen-in-mouth task