Combined production of broilers and fruits

Combined production of broilers and fruit trees is a subject often discussed in organic fruit production in Denmark. Very little research has been carried out on this type of production system. In organic production in Denmark, nearly no pesticides are allowed, so the need for alternative pest control is large. Apple sawfly (Hoplocampa testudinea) and pear midge (Contarinia pyrivora) cause big crop losses in apples and pears respectively, in unsprayed organic fruit production. Both insects infest fruitlets and cause these to drop prematurely after which the pests pupate in the topsoil. In the present experiment a research orchard with the varieties ‘Discovery’ and ‘Conference’ were used as outdoor area for broilers to minimise the population of sawflies and pear midges, and to reduce the need for weeding and manuring. The trees were kept unsprayed. Fruit yield and fruit quality were assessed at harvest. White sticky traps were placed in the test area in order to measure the occurrence of sawfly over time. The infestation of pear midge was investigated counting the infested fruitlets in clusters on trees at the centre of the plots. The catch of apple sawflies was reduced in the combined apple and broiler production, but no significant effect on the yield or the fruit quality was seen. Experiences from on-farm research show that combining fruit and egg-production is one way to reduce the problem with apple sawfly, but poultry alone is not a sufficient way of controlling sawflies. The welfare and health of the broilers were excellent under fruit trees

On the mechanical behaviour of thin perforated plates and their application in silicon condenser microphones

In this paper an alternative approach to the modelling of plates with a large number of holes is presented. By means of plate theory, it is shown that perforated plates can be modelled by conventional orthotropic plates with modified elastic properties. The modification of the elastic constants is derived by equalizing the strain-energy of the perforated and the orthotropic plate. The model obtained is then compared with previous methods and applied in the electrochemical simulation of a silicon micromachined microphone structure. The microphone structures are simulated numerically, using an algorithm based on finite differences

Selfdual spaces with complex structures, Einstein-Weyl geometry and geodesics

We study the Jones and Tod correspondence between selfdual conformal 4-manifolds with a conformal vector field and abelian monopoles on Einstein-Weyl 3-manifolds, and prove that invariant complex structures correspond to shear-free geodesic congruences. Such congruences exist in abundance and so provide a tool for constructing interesting selfdual geometries with symmetry, unifying the theories of scalar-flat Kahler metrics and hypercomplex structures with symmetry. We also show that in the presence of such a congruence, the Einstein-Weyl equation is equivalent to a pair of coupled monopole equations, and we solve these equations in a special case. The new Einstein-Weyl spaces, which we call Einstein-Weyl ``with a geodesic symmetry'', give rise to hypercomplex structures with two commuting triholomorphic vector fields.Comment: 30 pages, 7 figures, to appear in Ann. Inst. Fourier. 50 (2000

Scaling behavior of spin transport in hydrogenated graphene

We calculate the spin transport of hydrogenated graphene using the Landauer-B\"uttiker formalism with a spin-dependent tight-binding Hamiltonian. The advantages of using this method is that it simultaneously gives information on sheet resistance and localization length as well as spin relaxation length. Furthermore, the Landauer-B\"uttiker formula can be computed very efficiently using the recursive Green's function technique. Previous theoretical results on spin relaxation time in hydrogenated graphene have not been in agreement with experiments. Here, we study magnetic defects in graphene with randomly aligned magnetic moments, where interference between spin-channels is explicitly included. We show that the spin relaxation length and sheet resistance scale nearly linearly with the impurity concentration. Moreover, the spin relaxation mechanism in hydrogenated graphene is Markovian only near the charge neutrality point or in the highly dilute impurity limit

Nonlinear photocurrents in two-dimensional systems based on graphene and boron nitride

DC photoelectrical currents can be generated purely as a non-linear effect in uniform media lacking inversion symmetry without the need for a material junction or bias voltages to drive it, in what is termed photogalvanic effect. These currents are strongly dependent on the polarization state of the radiation, as well as on topological properties of the underlying Fermi surface such as its Berry curvature. In order to study the intrinsic photogalvanic response of gapped graphene (GG), biased bilayer graphene (BBG), and hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), we compute the non-linear current using a perturbative expansion of the density matrix. This allows a microscopic description of the quadratic response to an electromagnetic field in these materials, which we analyze as a function of temperature and electron density. We find that the intrinsic response is robust across these systems and allows for currents in the range of pA cm/W to nA cm/W. At the independent-particle level, the response of hBN-based structures is significant only in the ultra-violet due to their sizeable band-gap. However, when Coulomb interactions are accounted for by explicit solution of the Bethe-Salpeter equation, we find that the photoconductivity is strongly modified by transitions involving exciton levels in the gap region, whose spectral weight dominates in the overall frequency range. Biased bilayers and gapped monolayers of graphene have a strong photoconductivity in the visible and infrared window, allowing for photocurrent densities of several nA cm/W. We further show that the richer electronic dispersion of BBG at low energies and the ability to change its band-gap on demand allows a higher tunability of the photocurrent, including not only its magnitude but also, and significantly, its polarity.Comment: Updating with published version and respective references; 14 pages, 11 figure

An IC-compatible polyimide pressure sensor with capacitive readout

A capacitive differential pressure sensor has been developed. The process used for the fabrication of the sensor is IC-compatible, meaning that the device potentially can be integrated on one chip with a suitable signal-conditioning circuit. A sensor for a differential pressure of ±1 bar has been fabricated and tested with a frequency-modulated detection circuit, and good agreement is found with the theoretical model of the sensor. A nominal sensitivity ¿C/C of 17% has been measured for a positive differential pressure of 1 bar. The resolution of the complete detection system is 2.5 mbar (250 Pa)

Distribution and labour market incentives in the welfare state – Danish experiences

In recent years, Denmark has been successful in ensuring and maintaining a low unemployment rate. However, almost one third of the working-age population remains dependent on public transfers, a fact which poses questions on both social inclusion and financial pressures on the welfare state. In this paper, we consider more closely the interaction between the social safety net and the need and scope for maintaining a high employment rate in a welfare state of the Scandinavian type. The focus is on the basic dilemma between ambitious distributional goals on the one hand and work incentives on the other. The paper discusses policy issues related to minimizing welfare dependence that improve the transition from welfare to work. We consider these issues in a life cycle perspective considering entry into the labour market, maintenance of labour market contact, and exit from the labour market. Finally, we consider some recent reform proposals and initiatives in Denmark.Incentives to work; Social safety net; Distribution

Dirac model of electronic transport in graphene antidot barriers

In order to use graphene for semiconductor applications, such as transistors with high on/off ratios, a band gap must be introduced into this otherwise semimetallic material. A promising method of achieving a band gap is by introducing nanoscale perforations (antidots) in a periodic pattern, known as a graphene antidot lattice (GAL). A graphene antidot barrier (GAB) can be made by introducing a 1D GAL strip in an otherwise pristine sheet of graphene. In this paper, we will use the Dirac equation (DE) with a spatially varying mass term to calculate the electronic transport through such structures. Our approach is much more general than previous attempts to use the Dirac equation to calculate scattering of Dirac electrons on antidots. The advantage of using the DE is that the computational time is scale invariant and our method may therefore be used to calculate properties of arbitrarily large structures. We show that the results of our Dirac model are in quantitative agreement with tight-binding for hexagonal antidots with armchair edges. Furthermore, for a wide range of structures, we verify that a relatively narrow GAB, with only a few antidots in the unit cell, is sufficient to give rise to a transport gap

Dapagliflozin stimulates glucagon secretion at high glucose: experiments and mathematical simulations of human A-cells.

Glucagon is one of the main regulators of blood glucose levels and dysfunctional stimulus secretion coupling in pancreatic A-cells is believed to be an important factor during development of diabetes. However, regulation of glucagon secretion is poorly understood. Recently it has been shown that Na(+)/glucose co-transporter (SGLT) inhibitors used for the treatment of diabetes increase glucagon levels in man. Here, we show experimentally that the SGLT2 inhibitor dapagliflozin increases glucagon secretion at high glucose levels both in human and mouse islets, but has little effect at low glucose concentrations. Because glucagon secretion is regulated by electrical activity we developed a mathematical model of A-cell electrical activity based on published data from human A-cells. With operating SGLT2, simulated glucose application leads to cell depolarization and inactivation of the voltage-gated ion channels carrying the action potential, and hence to reduce action potential height. According to our model, inhibition of SGLT2 reduces glucose-induced depolarization via electrical mechanisms. We suggest that blocking SGLTs partly relieves glucose suppression of glucagon secretion by allowing full-scale action potentials to develop. Based on our simulations we propose that SGLT2 is a glucose sensor and actively contributes to regulation of glucagon levels in humans which has clinical implications