Klinische Prüfung von Homöopathika (Nosoden) in der Kontrolle von Mastitiden des Rindes (NoKoM)

In einem Milchviehbetrieb (250 Kühe) wurde eine homöopathische Trockenstellprophylaxe unter vollständigem Verzicht von antibiotischen Trockenstellern geprüft. Eine bestandsspezifische Mischnosode D30 wurde im Vergleich zu einem Placebo eingesetzt. Die Tiere wurden in wöchentlichem Abstand viermal vor dem Trockenstellen (TS), zur Abkalbung und eine Woche post partum (p.p.) mit je 5 ml des Studienpräparates peroral behandelt. Der Eutergesundheitszustand wurde zu den Behandlungen, in der 6. Woche und am Ende des 2. und 3. Laktationsmonats durch zytobakteriologische Untersuchungen erfasst. Insgesamt kamen 79 Tiere mit 314 Vierteln in die Auswertung (Verum: n=41/164; Placebo: n=58/150). In beiden Versuchsgruppen traten vergleichbare Neuinfektions-, Heilungs- und Erkrankungsraten auf. Die Neuinfektionsrate p.p. lag in der Verumgruppe bei ca. 20 % und über den Beobachtungszeitraum 5%-20% niedriger als in der Placebogruppe (p>0,05). Zum TS waren 33 Vierteln bakteriologisch positiv. Die Heilungsraten der betroffenen Viertel waren gering, und in den Behandlungsgruppen vergleichbar (p>0,05). Der vollständige Verzicht auf antibiotische Trockensteller führte nicht zur Verschlechterung der Eutergesundheit, sondern u.A. zu einer Zunahme gesunder Euterviertel. Die mittlere Tankzellzahl konnten leicht gesenkt werden. Obwohl während der Studie euterpathogene Erregern auftraten, konnte kein Anstieg an Mastitiserkrankungen festgestellt werden. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass der Einsatz von antibiotischen Trockenstellern deutlich reduziert werden kann, wenngleich auf ihn, vor allem in Problembetrieben, nicht ganz verzichtet werden kann. Voraussetzung bleibt aber die Optimierung des Umfeldes der Tiere. Das Konzept kann in Verbindung mit dem selektiven Einsatz von Antibiotika zusammen mit einer tierärztlichen Bestandsbetreuung auch in anderen Betrieben umgesetzt werden und liefert somit neue Erkenntnisse für Sicherung der Tiergesundheit im ökologischen Landbau

Nosoden zum Trockenstellen – eine placebokontrollierte Blindstudie

In an organic dairy herd (250 cows) a homeopathic dry cow treatment should be evaluated while an antibiotic dry cow therapy (DCT) was totally abandoned. A ran-domized placebo-controlled double blind study with a herd specific nosode (D30) was conducted. Either 5 ml of the nosode (VG) or a placebo (KG) was orally administered in weekly intervals four times before drying off, at the day of calving and seven days post partum (p.p.). The efficacy of treatment was measured according to quarter foremilk samples at the days of treatment, six weeks p.p. and at the end of the 2nd and 3rd month of lactation. Data of 129 cows with 512 quarters (VG:n=65/260; KG:n=64/252) was evaluable. New intramammary infections (IMIn) cure rates and cases of clinical mastitis in both treatment groups were nearly identical. In the VG 20% of the quarters came along with IMIn. In the KG IMIn were about 5% higher along the observation period (p>0.05). The cure rates of infected quarters were about 40% in both treatment groups (p>0.05). The complete abdication of antibiotics in DCT did not cause an impairment of udder health. Moreover the number of healthy quarters in-creased and the mean bulk milk somatic cell count decreased slightly during the study. The results of the study show that the use of antibiotics can be highly de-creased though a minimal use is indispensable, especially in herds suffering from udder health problems. Still the most essential prophylactic task is to optimize the housing conditions in the dry period and around calving. The presented dry cow man-agement in conjunction with a selective use of antibiotics can be implemented in veterinary herd health programs on other dairy farms

Antibiotikaeinsatz in der Bayerischen Schweinehaltungspraxis ABYS: Antibiotikaeinsatz und Antibiotikaresistenz in ökologischen Betrieben

Between 2012 and 2014, ABYS study recorded antibiotic use, detection and resistance data for 23 organic and 35 conventional pig farms. Antibiotic contents of farm-made fertilizers were assessed by LC/MS-MS. Phenotypic antimicrobial resistance was investigated in Escherichia (E.) coli (indicator bacteria); antimicrobial resistance genes of the total bacterial microbiota (sul(II), tet(A), tet(B), tet(M); marker Measured in nUDD (number of animals treated multiplied by treatment days), colistin was the most frequently used antibiotic, in organic farms followed by tylosin, doxycycline and amoxicillin. Antibiotic residues were rarely detected; however, manure contained up to 10^8 antimicrobial resistance genes per gram; concentrations were higher when the antibiotic had been used on farm. In six farms, antimicrobial resistant E. coli were tracked from the moment when pigs were placed on farm. Some isolates carried a broad variety of resistances from the very beginning that were maintained until slaughter, despite the fact that partly no antibiotics were applied during fattening. Approaches for reducing carry-over of antimicrobial resistant bacteria will be discusse

Dark and visible matter with broken R-parity and the axion multiplet

A small breaking of R-parity reconciles thermal leptogenesis, gravitino dark matter and primordial nucleosynthesis. We find that the same breaking relaxes cosmological bounds on the axion multiplet. Naturally expected spectra become allowed and bounds from late particle decays become so weak that they are superseded by bounds from non-thermal axion production. In this sense, the strong CP problem serves as an additional motivation for broken R-parity.Comment: 13 pages + refs, 1 table, v2: refs added, minor changes in presentation, v3: refs added, added discussion of decays into Higgs and Higgsino, matches published versio

Changing of the Guards: The impact of handover procedures on human performance in Multiple Remote Tower Operations

Multiple Remote Tower Operations (MRTO) change the way air traffic is managed. In this concept, air traffic control officers (ATCOs) operate several aerodromes simultaneously from a specially designed working position, also referred to as a multiple remote tower module (MRTM). This change in operations also introduces significant changes in the ATCOs’ workflow and cognitive demands. In theory MRTO can facilitate the ATCOs’ ability to balance their mental workload through a flexible allocation of aerodromes to each MRTM, but new procedures need to be implemented to enable such flexible allocations: Appropriate handover procedures are needed to transfer aerodromes between MRTMs and their operators. This paper investigated the feasibility of handover procedures during simulated air traffic control as a mitigation to counteract inappropriate mental workload. In a human-in-the-loop real-time simulation, six ATCOs completed traffic scenarios with or without handover via two MRTM, dealing with a total of three aerodromes. Descriptive data showed no adverse short-term effects caused by the handovers and indicated possible beneficial long-term effects on cognitive capacity and safety. The handover procedures were overall feasible and accepted by the ATCOs, as a strategy to better balance mental workload in MRTO

Effects of Radio Frequency Coupling in Multiple Remote Tower Operation on Pilots

Multiple Remote Tower Operation (MRTO) is a further development of Remote Tower Operation (RTO) that changes the way air traffic service (ATS) is provided at airports. Using MRTO, a single Air Traffic Controller can provide air traffic services to two or even more small airports with light traffic simultaneously, increasing efficiency, service utilization and cost-effectiveness. MRTO concept has been thoroughly proven to be feasible from the controllers’ point of view, but there are some issues that remain to be resolved from the pilots’ perspective. In order to safely apply MRTO, controller stated, that it is needed to “cross-couple” the radio frequencies of the served airports and to slightly adapt the standard radiotelephony phraseology by stating the relevant airport’s name in each radio call. Although these changes may appear to be only minor, their implications and effects on pilots have not been investigated scientifically, which motivated this study. In a human-in-the-loop real-time simulation experiment, 25 private and commercial pilots flew a Cessna C172 light aircraft at Braunschweig-Wolfsburg airport in a within-subject experiment design: one flight in an MRTO setting with coupled radio frequencies, and the other in a traditional RTO setting. The data analysis showed that the pilots’ overall mental workload was below an optimal medium during flights in both the RTO and MRTO cases. Workload differences were slightly, but statistically significantly higher in MRTO than in RTO, closer to but still below an optimal medium value. The measured situation awareness followed the opposite pattern, with slightly yet significantly lower ratings in the MRTO environment than in RTO. Attitudes towards MRTO were predominantly positive before and after performing the experiment. There were no mistakes or confusions in either flight performance or radio communication that could be attributed to the MRTO frequency cross-coupling. Therefore, the observed effects on mental workload and situation awareness are thought to be caused as well by the MRTO concept-driven higher number of radio calls that each pilot experienced during radio frequency cross-coupling. In summary, the effects of frequency cross-coupling in an MRTO environment compared to an RTO environment are statistically significant but slight, and did not impact the pilots’ mental workload and situation awareness to an extent which would affect their performance. In conclusion, frequency cross-coupling did not interfere with safe and efficient flight operations, and MRTO using frequency cross-coupling is therefore considered an appropriate and beneficial concept for small airports and airfields controlled or uncontrolled