Expendable bubble tiltmeter for geophysical monitoring

An unusually rugged highly sensitive and inexpensive bubble tiltmeter has been designed, tested, and built in quantity. These tiltmeters are presently used on two volcanoes and an Alaskan glacier, where they continuously monitor surface tilts of geological interest. This paper discusses the mechanical, thermal, and electric details of the meter, and illustrates its performance characteristics in both large ( > 10^(-4) radian) and small ( < 10^(-6) radian) tilt environments. The meter's ultimate sensitivity is better than 2 X 10^(-8) radians rms for short periods (hours), and its useful dynamic range is greater than 10^4. Included is a short description of field use of the instrument for volcano monitoring

l. suis medication of piglets with Baycoxo 5% against coccidiose and for stabilisation of the microflora against intestinal infections and reducing the application of antibiotica and vaccines against diarrhoea with E.coli and Clostridia

After the oral treatment of all p1glets 3 - 5 days after birth with Baycox 5% we found a better intestine health in the suckling and in the flatdeck period. ln this study there was a reduced diarrhoea dunng suckling and in the flatdeck.With the Baycox• therapeutic the vaccination program against E. coli and Clostridium perfringens Typ C and the application of antibiotica to the weaners could be decreased for nearly 40 % during the breeding period. AII pigs got better health status with higher weight gain and uniformity

Möglichkeiten der Optimierung der Wirtschaftsdüngung zu Winterweizen durch Berücksichtigung bodentypischer Gegebenheiten

In organic farming, N supply to non-legumes often does not meet the N-demand of the respective crops, which then results in low yields and unsatisfactory product quality. The present study analysed the potential of a site specific application of organic ferti-lizers to improve N-efficiency of organic winter wheat production. Under a constant management, strong yield variations were caused by different soil types. On average of two experimental years (2005/06), liquid manure application of 135 kg N ha-1 in-creased the crop yields by 50%.The crude protein content was significantly improved as well. Interactions of soil type and fertilisation on yield and quality parameters were absent, except for a significantly higher utilisation of N from liquid manure on soils with a higher water storage capacity under dry conditions of the growing period 2006

Winterbeweidung als Alternative zur Mulch- bzw. Schnittnutzung von Kleegrasschlägen [Winter grazing, an alternative to mulching or mowing of grass clover swards]

Literature shows that management factors like the type of defoliation and seed mixture have a strong influence on yield, forage quality and N2-fixation of grass clover mixtures. In comparison to harvesting, grazing is cheaper and for economical reasons a maximum grazing period is aimed. Grazing over winter time can cause irreparable damages to the pasture. This problem is of minor relevance for grass clover grown on arable land in its last production year, which it’s ploughed anyway in the following spring. This study compares different grass clover mixtures concerning yield, forage quality and suitability for winter grazing. Grass clover swards varying with respect to the following experimental factors: I. com-panion grass species (perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) vs tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea)) and II. legume species (a. white clover (Trifolium repens), b. red clover (Trifolium pratense) and c. alfalfa (Medicago sativa)) were established for comparison. Tall fescue effected higher total dry matter yields than perennial ryegrass. White clover reached the highest crude protein and energy contents of all tested species. In contrast to this, swards with red clover and alfalfa, showing also the highest sward legume contents, reached higher dry matter and nitrogen yields Plots grazed in different periods over winter showed a clear loss of grazable matter. The highest losses of dry matter which also was coupled with a remarkable decrease in crude protein and energy content was observed in mixtures with alfalfa

Acute respiratory diseases: a study on health inequalities

Apresentam-se as desigualdades em saúde valendo-se das doenças respiratórias agudas na infância na área de abrangência de um centro de saúde na cidade de São Paulo, Brasil, para subsidiar o planejamento local de ações de promoção da saúde. O trabalho se fundamentou em estudos ecológicos que utilizam a área geográfica como unidade de análise, permitindo a comparação de indicadores de saúde e sócio-econômicos mediante dados censitários. Foram construídos indicadores de "inserção social" e de "qualidade do domicílio", gerando o "índice potencial de exposição" que reflete as condições de risco para o adoecimento por agravos respiratórios. O tratamento estatístico incluiu o agrupamento pela técnica de cluster. Foram identificados quatro grupos sociais homogêneos nas condições de risco para as doenças respiratórias agudas. Os grupos III e IV - com as piores condições sócio-econômicas - mostraram diferenciais importantes em relação aos grupos I e II. Os diferenciais de mortes por pneumonia encontrados, sugerem iniqüidades em saúde. Os resultados permitiram a localização geográfica de maior e menor concentração das carências relativas às condições de vida e a comparação entre os setores censitários para o reconhecimento de necessidades distintas, que subsidiem propostas para a articulação intersetorial.This article discusses health inequalities based on acute childhood respiratory diseases in the coverage area of a health center in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, to help plan local health promotion activities. The work was based on ecological studies using the geographic area as the unit of analysis, allowing a comparison of health and socioeconomic indicators based on census data. Indicators were constructed for "social inclusion" and "housing quality", generating the "potential exposure index", which reflects the respiratory disease risk conditions. Statistical treatment included grouping according to the cluster technique. Four homogenous social groups were identified in terms of risk conditions for acute respiratory diseases. Groups III and IV, with the worst socioeconomic conditions, showed important differences in comparison to groups I and II. The differences in mortality from pneumonia suggest important health inequalities. The results allow the geographic localization of the highest and lowest concentration of needs in terms of living conditions and the comparison of census tracts for recognizing distinct needs, thus supporting proposals for inter-sector collaboration.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP

Hand classification of fMRI ICA noise components

We present a practical "how-to" guide to help determine whether single-subject fMRI independent components (ICs) characterise structured noise or not. Manual identification of signal and noise after ICA decomposition is required for efficient data denoising: to train supervised algorithms, to check the results of unsupervised ones or to manually clean the data. In this paper we describe the main spatial and temporal features of ICs and provide general guidelines on how to evaluate these. Examples of signal and noise components are provided from a wide range of datasets (3T data, including examples from the UK Biobank and the Human Connectome Project, and 7T data), together with practical guidelines for their identification. Finally, we discuss how the data quality, data type and preprocessing can influence the characteristics of the ICs and present examples of particularly challenging datasets

Thermal detector model for cryogenic composite detectors for the dark matter experiments CRESST and EURECA

The CRESST (Cryogenic Rare Event Search with Superconducting Thermometers) and the EURECA (European Underground Rare Event Calorimeter Array) experiments are direct dark matter search experiments where cryogenic detectors are used to detect spin-independent, coherent WIMP (Weakly Interacting Massive Particle)-nucleon scattering events by means of the recoil energy. The cryogenic detectors use a massive single crystal as absorber which is equipped with a TES (transition edge sensor) for signal read-out. They are operated at mK-temperatures. In order to enable a mass production of these detectors, as needed for the EURECA experiment, a so-called composite detector design (CDD) that allows decoupling of the TES fabrication from the optimization procedure of the absorber single-crystal was developed and studied. To further investigate, understand and optimize the performance of composite detectors a detailed thermal detector model which takes into account the CDD has been developed.Comment: To appear in Journal of Physics: Conference Series; Proceedings of Neutrino 2008, Christchurch, New Zealan