Investigación de la individualidad del locutor en el alemán estándar de Suecia en cuatro regiones dialectales alemánicas: cantidad consonántica, cualidad vocálica y variables temporales

While German-speaking Switzerland manifests a considerable amount of dialectal diversity, until the present day the phonetic interrelation of Alemannic (ALM) dialects and spoken Swiss Standard German (SSG) has not been studied with an acoustic phonetic approach on the speaker level. In this study, out of a pool of 32 speakers (controlled for sex, age, and education level) from 4 dialectologically distinct ALM areas, 16 speakers with 2 dialects were analysed regarding SSG consonant duration (in words whose ALM equivalents may or may not have a geminate), 8 speakers from the city of Bern (BE) were analysed for vowel quality, and 32 speakers were analysed for temporal variables, i.e., articulation rate (AR) and vocalic-speech percentage (%V). Results reveal that there is much intradialectal inter- and intraspeaker variation in all three aspects scrutinised, but especially regarding vowel quality of BE SSG mid vowels and temporal variables. As for consonant quantity, while intradialectal interspeaker variation was observed, speakers showed a tendency towards normalised SSG consonant durations that resemble the normalised consonant durations in their ALM dialect. In general, these results suggest that a speaker’s dialect background is only one factor amongst many that influence the way in which Swiss Standard German is spoken.Aunque la Suiza de habla alemana cuente con una diversidad dialectal considerable, hasta hoy no se ha estudiado la interrelación fonética entre los dialectos alemánicos (ALM) y el alemán estándar suizo (SSG) con un enfoque acústico a nivel de locutor. La muestra para este estudio se compone de 32 informantes (controlados por sexo y edad) procedentes de cuatro distintas regiones dialectales ALM. De 16 locutores de 2 dialectos se analiza la duración consonántica en palabras SSG cuyos equivalentes ALM pueden tener o faltar una geminada. De 8 locutores de la ciudad de Berna se analizan distintos timbres vocálicos. Además, para todos los 32 locutores se calculan dos variables temporales, o sea la velocidad de articulación (AR) y el portentaje vocálico del habla (%V). <>Los resultados revelan que existe mucha variación inter- e intraindividual en todos los tres aspectos investigados, pero sobre todo en el timbre vocálico de las vocales medias en BE SSG y en las variables temporales. En relación a la cantidad consonántica, se ha observado cierta variación intradialectal entre varios locutores, pero al mismo tiempo muchos locutores muestran duraciones consonánticas normalizadas SSG que se parecen a las duraciones consonánticas normalizadas en su propio dialecto ALM. En general, estos resultados sugieren que el dialecto alemánico es solo uno entre varios factores que influyen en la pronunciación del alemán estándar suizo

Role of hexagonal boron nitride in protecting ferromagnetic nanostructures from oxidation

Ferromagnetic contacts are widely used to inject spin polarized currents into non-magnetic materials such as semiconductors or 2-dimensional materials like graphene. In these systems, oxidation of the ferromagnetic materials poses an intrinsic limitation on device performance. Here we investigate the role of ex-situ transferred chemical vapour deposited hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) as an oxidation barrier for nanostructured cobalt and permalloy electrodes. The chemical state of the ferromagnets was investigated using X-ray photoemission electron microscopy owing to its high sensitivity and lateral resolution. We have compared the oxide thickness formed on ferromagnetic nanostructures covered by hBN to uncovered reference structures. Our results show that hBN reduces the oxidation rate of ferromagnetic nanostructures suggesting that it could be used as an ultra-thin protection layer in future spintronic devices.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure

Langzeitversuch Burgrain: Bodenmikrobiologische Parameter in biologisch und integrierten Anbausystemen im Vergleich

In a large scale field experiment near Lucerne (Switzerland) the effect of integrated and organic farming systems on soil microbial parameters was investigated. Three farming systems, IP intensive, IP extensive and organic farming (“Bio”) were com-pared on six plots during 18 years. The six year crop rotation with two years of ley (grass-clover mixture) was identical for all treatments, as was soil tillage, except that tillage in IP extensive was switched to non-inversion tillage starting in 2003. Soil sam-ples from 0 to 20 cm depth were taken in spring, between 1993 to 1996 every year and after 1998 every second year. The samples were analysed for soil microbial biomass (substrate induced respiration SIR and since 2002 chloroform fumigation extraction CFE), soil respiration and nitrogen mineralisation. All parameters showed clear and stable differences between plots, depending on soil characteristics. Although significant differences between farming systems in single plots or for single parame-ters occurred, there could not be found any overall significant differences between the three farming systems. Although this result is contradictory to findings in the literature, it is confirmed by other investigations in Switzerland. It may be explained by the fact that both IP as well as the organic farming system had the same crop rotations and both got organic manure, as it is common agricultural practice in Switzerland

Contact-less characterizations of encapsulated graphene p-n junctions

Accessing intrinsic properties of a graphene device can be hindered by the influence of contact electrodes. Here, we capacitively couple graphene devices to superconducting resonant circuits and observe clear changes in the resonance- frequency and -widths originating from the internal charge dynamics of graphene. This allows us to extract the density of states and charge relaxation resistance in graphene p-n junctions without the need of electrical contacts. The presented characterizations pave a fast, sensitive and non-invasive measurement of graphene nanocircuits.Comment: 4 figures, supplementary information on reques

Wideband and on-chip excitation for dynamical spin injection into graphene

Graphene is an ideal material for spin transport as very long spin relaxation times and lengths can be achieved even at room temperature. However, electrical spin injection is challenging due to the conductivity mismatch problem. Spin pumping driven by ferromagnetic resonance is a neat way to circumvent this problem as it produces a pure spin current in the absence of a charge current. Here, we show spin pumping into single layer graphene in micron scale devices. A broadband on-chip RF current line is used to bring micron scale permalloy (Ni$_{80}$Fe$_{20}$) pads to ferromagnetic resonance with a magnetic field tunable resonance condition. At resonance, a spin current is emitted into graphene, which is detected by the inverse spin hall voltage in a close-by platinum electrode. Clear spin current signals are detected down to a power of a few milliwatts over a frequency range of 2 GHz to 8 GHz. This compact device scheme paves the way for more complex device structures and allows the investigation of novel materials.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

In-situ strain tuning in hBN-encapsulated graphene electronic devices

Using a simple setup to bend a flexible substrate, we demonstrate deterministic and reproducible in-situ strain tuning of graphene electronic devices. Central to this method is the full hBN encapsulation of graphene, which preserves the exceptional quality of pristine graphene for transport experiments. In addition, the on-substrate approach allows one to exploit strain effects in the full range of possible sample geometries and at the same time guarantees that changes in the gate capacitance remain negligible during the deformation process. We use Raman spectroscopy to spatially map the strain magnitude in devices with two different geometries and demonstrate the possibility to engineer a strain gradient, which is relevant for accessing the valley degree of freedom with pseudo-magnetic fields. Comparing the transport characteristics of a suspended device with those of an on-substrate device, we demonstrate that our new approach does not suffer from the ambiguities encountered in suspended devices

Natur und Bewirtschaftung prägen die Bodenstruktur

Das vergangene Anbaujahr hat es deutlich gezeigt: Für gute Erträge müssen Ackerböden grosse Regenmengen aufnehmen und in Trockenzeiten wieder Wasser nachliefern können. Das ist nur dann möglich, wenn die Bodenstruktur intakt ist

2-C-Branced mannosides as a novel family of FimH antagonists - Synthesis and biological evaluation

Urinary tract infections (UTIs), which are among the most prevalent bacterial infections worldwide, are mainly attributed to uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC). Because of frequent antibiotic treatment, antimicrobial resistance constitutes an increasing therapeutic problem. Antagonists of the mannose-specific bacterial lectin FimH, a key protein mediating the adhesion of UPEC to human bladder cells, would offer an alternative anti-adhesive treatment strategy. In general, FimH antagonists consist of a mannose moiety and a wide range of lipophilic aglycones. Modifications of the mannose core led to a distinct drop in affinity. A visual inspection of the crystal structure of FimH revealed a previously unexplored cavity surrounded by Ile13, Phe142 and Asp140, which could be reached by functional groups in the equatorial 2-position of the mannose. Here, we describe the synthesis of 2- C -branched mannosides and evaluation of their pharmacodynamic properties. ITC experiments with the selected antagonists revealed a drastic enthalpy loss for all 2- C -branched antagonists, which, however, is partially compensated by an entropy gain. This supports the hypothesis that the target cavity is too small to accommodate 2- C -substituents