Open Access

Astaxanthin is a keto-carotenoid, belongs to the chemical class of terpenes and is a yellow lipid soluble compound. The compound is present in marine animals like salmons and crustacean. Its colour is due to conjugated double bonds and these double bonds are responsible for its antioxidant effect. Its antioxidant activity is ten times stronger than other carotenoids and nearly 500 fold stronger than vitamin-E. We present a new thin layer chromatography (TLC) method to measure astaxanthin on TLC-plates (Merck, 1.05554) in the visible absorption range as well as by using chemiluminescence. For separation a solvent mixture of cyclohexane and acetone (10 + 2.4, v/v) was used. The RF-value of astaxanthin is 0.14.The limit of detection in vis-absorption is 64 ng / band and the limit of quantification is 92 ng/band. In chemiluminescence the values are 90 ng / band and 115 ng/band. The method offers two independently working measurement modes on a single plate which increase the accuracy of the quantification.

This article combines two important areas of practical theology: Monastic rules and leadership in a cloistral organisation, using the Rule of Saint Francis as a prominent example. The aim of this research is to examine how living Christian tradition in a monastic order affects leadership today, discovering how the Rule and Franciscan spirituality impact managing a convent. The research question is answered within this inductive research applying the methodology of the ‘theology in four voices.’ Based on the results, it is possible to build a coherent leadership system based on Biblical and Franciscan sources.

Antennas for Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) provide benefits for high frequencies (HF) and wireless data transmission via Near Field Communication (NFC) and many other applications. In this case, various requirements for the design of the reader and transmitter antennas must be met in order to achieve a suitable transmission quality. In this work, a miniaturized cost-effective RFID/NFC antenna for a microelectronic measurement system is designed and printed on different flexible carrier substrates using a new and low-cost Direct Ink Writing (DIW) technology. Various practical aspects such as reflection and impedance magnitude as well as the behavior of the printed RFID/NFC antennas are analyzed and compared to an identical copper-based antenna of the same size. The results are presented in this paper. Furthermore, the problems during the printing process itself on the different substrates are evaluated. The effects of the characteristics on the antenna under kink-free bending tests are examined and subsequently long-term measurements are carried out.

Propagation of acoustic waves is considered in a system consisting of two stiff quarter-spaces connected by a planar soft layer. The two quarter-spaces and the layer form a half-space with a planar surface. In a numerical study, surface waves have been found and analyzed in this system with displacements that are localized not only at the surface, but also in the soft layer. In addition to the semi-analytical finite element method, an alternative approach based on an expansion of the displacement field in a double series of Laguerre functions and Legendre polynomials has been applied. It is shown that a number of branches of the mode spectrum can be interpreted and remarkably well described by perturbation theory, where the zero-order modes are the wedge waves guided at a rectangular edge of the stiff quarter-spaces or waves guided at the edge of a soft plate with rigid surfaces. For elastic moduli and densities corresponding to the material combination PMMA–silicone–PMMA, at least one of the branches in the dispersion relation of surface waves trapped in the soft layer exhibits a zero-group velocity point. Potential applications of these 1D guided surface waves in non-destructive evaluation are discussed.