Enhancing the lateral resolution in optical microscopy and interferometry is of great interest in recent research. In order to laterally resolve structures including feature dimensions below the Abbe resolution limit, microspheres in the optical near-field of the specimen are shown to locally improve the resolution of the imaging system. Experimental and simulated results following this approach are obtained by a high NA Linnik interferometer and analyzed in this contribution. They show the reconstructed surface of ...

Background: Little is known about the effects of gypsum application to remediate saline-sodic soils in the tropics and the role of microbial indicators in soil reclamation. Aims: Our study aimed at (1) remediating a highly weathered, irrigated sodic Lixisol under prolonged urban crop production by clean water and gypsum application and (2) to determine the remediation effects on soil microbial indices. Methods: A three-factorial on-farm experiment with maize (Zea mays L.) was used to study effects on soil microbial ...

Recently, Germany has seen a series of inner‐city projects that tend to reconstruct pre‐war buildings or ensembles lost in the Second World War after demolishing earlier attempts to redefine the place in which they had been located with the means of modernist architecture. While those modernist buildings are often seen as “eyesores” by ordinary citizens advocating their demolition, the newer reconstructionist projects are criticized heavily by architects and planners not only because they often bring along revisionist ...

Background Fungi play crucial roles in ecosystems and are among the species-richest organism groups on Earth. However, knowledge on their occurrence lags behind the data for animals and plants. Recent analyses of fungal occurrence data from Western, Central and Northern Europe provided important insights into response of fungi to global warming. The consequences of the global changes for biodiversity on a larger geographical scale are not yet understood. Landscapes of Eastern Europe and particularly of eastern ...

Questions Which trends and patterns of community change occurred in Nardus grasslands over recent decades in parts of the Continental biogeographic region of Germany? Are patterns and trends consistent across two study regions? Do impacts of environmental changes on Nardus grasslands in Central Europe correspond to those identified in the European Atlantic biogeographic region? Location East Hesse Highlands, Germany. Methods In 2012–2015, we re‐surveyed quasi‐permanent plots that had been initially surveyed ...

Background and aims The image-forming methods copper chloride crystallization, capillary dynamolysis and circular chromatography are presented as an instrument for assessing wine quality. Wine quality of samples from a long-term field trial comparing integrated, organic and biodynamic management were investigated by using image-forming methods and sensory analysis. Methods and results Concerning the image-forming methods copper chloride crystallization, capillary dynamolysis and circular chromatography, the images ...

Simple Summary Sub-Saharan cattle are often exposed to a feed reduction caused by a seasonal lack of forage, which was investigated in the first experiment. The supplementation of roughage-based diets with sweet potato vine silage and urea molasses blocks is recommended to improve the growth of heifers, in particular, which was investigated in the second experiment. Across all data, the fungal C/bacterial C ratio was positively related to nitrogen and negatively to neutral detergent fiber concentrations in feces. ...

Background Ample quantities of ashes generated from domestic biomass energy combustion in Ghanaian kitchens are currently disposed of despite their potential agricultural value. This study aimed to investigate the potential agricultural value of charcoal and firewood ashes in terms of differences in the chemical and mineralogical compositions, and to identify the suitability of aqua regia, H2SO4, vinegar and distilled water to extract plant nutrients (Ca, Mg, K, Na, and P). The chemical compositions were determined ...

We examined whether visual disfluency, as elicited by presenting text on flickering slides, affects learning positively and the global judgment of learning (JOL) negatively. Participants (N = 202 in Experiment 1, between-subjects design; N = 53 in Experiment 2, within-subjects design) saw in an online session multiple slides including textual information that they had to learn. The slides were presented either fluently or disfluently, that is, interrupted by rapid presentations of black slides, evoking a flickering ...

Local reactive power control in distribution grids with a high penetration of distributed energy resources (DERs) will be essential in future power system operation. Appropriate control characteristic curves for DERs support stable and efficient distribution grid operation. However, the current practice is to configure local controllers collectively with constant characteristic curves that may not be efficient for volatile grid conditions or the desired targets of grid operators. To address this issue, this paper ...