Analysis of black holes in our knowledge concerning animal health in the organic food production chain

Although a large body of research on health aspects can be found via the web or in conference proceedings, only few papers reach the peer reviewed literature. This aspect makes it difficult to judge the quality of available data that relate to health aspects associated with organic livestock production. Many data deal with "on farm case type studies" which often do not lead to a direct relation between certain management procedures and incidence of certain health aspects. The principle that organic held animals are in better condition concerning their health as compared to conventionally held animals has not yet been proven. Well-controlled studies are needed to show the effects of organically held animals on innate and adaptive immune responses and disease susceptibility. The conditions in organic livestock production lead to novel challenges concerning social interactions, physical requirements, climatic conditions and infectious burden which requires certain breeds of animals that differ considerably from the conventionally held animals. More research is needed to identify these breeds whereby breeding selection criteria specific to organic conditions and principles should be used. A number of health problems such as infestation with parasites is an important problem that has been noted in organic livestock (poultry and pig) production and more research is needed to both prevent and treat these infections. Although largely recommended, phytotherapy and homeopathy do not have any demonstrated efficacy in managing helminths. A multidisciplinary approach is needed to address these questions. Investigations should be concerned with aspects such as rotation, stocking density, disinfections strategies, genetic predisposition and novel (plant derived or biological) antihelminthics. A major drawback in the use of phytotherapeuticals is the lack of good clinical trials, most claims are based on traditional use, anecdotal evidence or extrapolation of human data. Another problem is the consistency/standardisation of the product; variations exist in the levels of "active" ingredients between lots. Extensive studies have shown that garlic has a beneficial effect on human health and therefore would possibly be a suitable candidate to increase the health of animals in organic production. Further research is needed to substantiate this claim. Although mastitis is not seen more often in organic dairy production compared to conventional farms, it is still frequently encountered and both basic and applied research concerning prevention and cure without the traditional use of antibiotics is needed. More knowledge is needed concerning effects of alternative treatments in organic livestock production. As long as alternative treatments have not formally been proven to be effective, allopathic treatments should be preferred. Studies are needed concerning the welfare aspects of disease and insufficient or postponed treatment in organic animal production systems. It is generally accepted that feather picking and cannibalism is a major problem in organic poultry and more research is needed to counter this unwanted behaviour of the animals. The following aspects including genetic influences, housing environment, feed composition and the presence of external parasites may be involved. Vaccination has been one of the largest success factors in the prevention of disease in production animals. Most vaccines used nowadays are genetically engineered and should thus carry the GMO label. GMO based vaccines produced by incorporating genetic material from bacteria or viruses into plants is an attractive approach but does not comply with the principles of organic farming. Investigations concerning various vaccination strategies with or without GMO approaches should be evaluated to prevent various infectious diseases in organic livestock production systems. Organic livestock production leads to an increase or re-emergence of certain zoonotic diseases ( Campylobacter, toxoplasma). This is a serious drawback concerning claims that organic products are healthier as compared to conventional products and research into the prevalence of certain zoonotic infections, risk factors, farm management, post slaughter decontamination and consumer perception/education is badly needed. Several micro-organisms are described to be present in feeds and could be sources of infections of farm animals. Such pathogens can be either present on the outside of the plant (epiphytes) or on the inside of the plant (endophytes). The incidence of pathogenic bacteria in/on plants used for organic animal feed is not clear and therefore research on the incidence of these pathogens is needed. Biological cycles such as the utilisation of manure from organic farms may potentially lead to the creation of infectious reservoirs. Research is needed to provide evidence for this hypothesis and strategies should be devised to prevent this problem. Little is known about the role of pests in the occurrence of disease in organic livestock production. Research is needed into the efficacy of alternative pest control strategies since current pest control methods are not in agreement with organic production principles (use of anticoagulants for rodent control). The obligatory use of straw bedding in swine household management leads to higher dust and bioareosol (endotoxin) levels in stables. This may affect susceptibility to lung disease (farmer and animal) and investigations concerning measures to reduce dust and bioaerosol levels are needed. Current literature on this subject is not concordant and true differences may exist between management systems from different countries. Piglet mortality is an important problem in organic production systems and research concerning genetic and housing aspects is currently performed but not yet reported in the peer-reviewed literature. Amino acid imbalance and research into novel feed sources with high protein content is needed. More knowledge is known concerning possible anti-nutritive factors in these feeds and the effects of these new nutrients on gut health of the animals. Amino acid imbalance may lead to higher excretion of excess amino acids into the environment. On farm research should be performed to substantiate whether these claims also apply to organic production systems. It has been suggested that organic feeds for animals in organic production systems may contain higher mycotoxin levels thereby adversely affecting their health status. As yet no conclusive data concerning this issue has been published and research into this area is needed to prove or reject this myth. As yet it is not known whether phytase levels in organic feed for pigs are sufficient to allow optimal utilisation of organic phosphor thereby also leading to a lower environmental pollution; further investigations are needed in this area

Kompetenzorientierte Bachelor- und Masterstudien : ein Einblick in aktuelle Entwicklungen an Schweizer Fachhochschulen

«Erworben im Rahmen der Schweizer Nationallizenzen (http://www.nationallizenzen.ch)»Vor zehn Jahren wurde in der Schweiz mit der Eröffnung der ersten Fachhochschulen ein neuer Hochschultypus geschaffen und mit einem Leistungsauftrag für Aus- und Weiterbildung, anwendungsorientierte Forschung und Entwicklung und Dienstleistungen für Dritte betraut. Nach der Aufbauphase war die Frage, wie die bildungspolitische und- theoretische Diskussion an den Fachhochschulen umgesetzt werden kann. Zwei ausgewählte Entwicklungen am Beispiel der Fachhochschulen für Soziale Arbeit in der Schweiz

Stochastic Continuum Transport Equations for Field-Scale Solute Transport: Overview of Theoretical and Experimental Results

One-dimensional transport models that predict field-scale averaged solute fluxes are often used to estimate the risk of nonpoint source groundwater contamination by widespread surface-applied chemicals. However, within-field variability of soil hydraulic properties leads to lateral variation in local solute fluxes. When this smaller scale variability is characterized in a geostatistical sense, stochastic three-dimensional flow and transport equations can be used to predict field-scale averaged transport in terms of geostatistical parameters. We discuss the use of stochastic equations for the parameterization of equivalent one-dimensional models predicting averaged solute fluxes. First, we consider the equivalent one-dimensional convection dispersion model and the equivalent dispersivity, which characterizes the spreading of laterally averaged concentrations or solute fluxes. Second, we discuss the parameterization of a stream tube model to predict local transport variables (i.e., distributions of local concentrations and local arrival times) These local transport variables are shown to be important for predicting nonlinear local transport processes and useful for inversely inferring the spatial structure of soil properties. Stochastic flow and transport equations reveal a dependency of equivalent model parameters on transport distance and flow rate, which reflects the importance of smaller scale heterogeneities on field-scale transport. Approximate solutions of stochastic flow and transport equations are obtained for steady-state and uniform flow. The effect of transient flow conditions on transport is discussed. Throughout the paper we refer to experimental and numerical data that confirm or contradict results from stochastic flow and transport equations

Hochschule und Praxis stärker verbinden : PROXI – ein Modell zur dialogischen Praxis- und Wissensentwicklung

PROXI ist ein Prozessmodell zur dialogischen Praxis- und Wissensentwicklung in der Sozialen Arbeit, das sich auf Grundlagen der Reflexiven Evidenz und der Dialogik stützt. Es dient als Leitfaden für zukunftsweisende Entwicklungs- und Lehrprojekte zu sozialen Themen, zielt darauf ab, Hochschule und Praxis stärker miteinander zu verbinden und leistet somit einen Beitrag zur Professionalisierung und Disziplinentwicklung der Sozialen Arbeit

Structure, morphogenesis and function of tubular structures induced by cowpea mosaic virus

During systemic plant infection, viruses move from the initially infected cells through plasmodesmata to neighbouring cells. Different mechanisms have been proposed for this cell-to-cell movement. Cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV) employs one of the major movement mechanisms, i.e. tubule-guided transport of virions, and this mechanism has been the subject of this thesis. The tubule-guided movement mechanism involves the assembly of movement protein (MP) into tubular structures within the plasmodesmal channel of infected cells, which pave the way for translocation of mature virus particles. These transport tubules are also induced on isolated plant cells (protoplasts) in the absence of cell walls and plasmodesmata. Employing this protoplast system, the structure, morphogenesis and function of CPMV tubules was studied.By mutational analysis of RNA-2 of CPMV (Chapter 2) it was established that mutations in the coding region of the overlapping 48 kDa/58 kDa proteins, but not the capsid proteins, resulted in abolishment of tubule formation in protoplasts. Deletion of the capsid proteins resulted in the formation of tubules without virions. As the 58 kDa protein contains the entire 48 kDa sequence, mutations made in the overlapping coding region affect the function of both proteins. To establish the involvement of each protein in tubule formation, antisera specific to the unique 10 kDa N-terminus of the 58 kDa protein were made by using synthetic peptides. Although the antisera reacted to purified 58 kDa protein in immunoblots, they failed to react in immunocytochemical experiments. Alternatively, the 58 kDa gene alone was transiently expressed in protoplasts. In these protoplasts no tubular structures were formed and the 58 kDa protein apparently localized to the nucleus. As production of the 48 kDa protein in protoplasts was previously shown to result in tubule formation it was concluded that this protein constitutes the actual viral movement protein (MP). The possible function and significance of the 58 kDa protein are discussed in Chapter 3.Having established that the 48 kDa protein is the viral MP responsible for tubule induction, the possible role of host proteins in this process was investigated following two different approaches. First, the expression of the MP gene in a heterologous (insect) cell system was studied (Chapter 4). As movement of plant viruses occurs through plasmodesmata, intercellular channels unique to plant cells, it was speculated that plant specific host factors could play a role in targetting and assembly of the tubules.However, upon production of the MP in insect cells, tubule formation occurred in a fashion similar to that in plant protoplasts. This led to the conclusion that if host proteins were involved in this mechanism, these should be of a conserved (among plant and animal) nature (Chapter 4). The second approach involved the isolation and subsequent biochemical analysis of tubules from infected protoplasts. This showed that the MP was (apart from the coat proteins) the sole major component of the movement tubules and host proteins were not obviously present in these structures (Chapter 5).Tubule-guided movement of virions appears to be an important mechanism used by a large variety of plant viruses. For two other viruses which are genetically unrelated to CPMV, i.e. brome mosaic virus and alfalfa mosaic virus, evidence for this mechanism was obtained during the course of this PhD research. These two representatives of the Bromoviridae are genetically more closely related to tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) which supposedly does not move using a tubule-guided mechanism, but moves as an RNA-MP complex through plasmodesmata. The fact that the MP of these viruses also forms tubules in protoplasts indicates that tubule formation may be a more general ability of plant virus MPs (Chapter 6). This hypothesis is discussed and corroborated by literature data and additional experimental evidence in Chapter 7.</p

Die Hochschulbildung der Zukunft sinnstiftend gestalten

Sinnstiftung ist in der Hochschulbildung im Trend: Hochschulangehörige wollen sich sinnstiftend einbringen und als Teil eines größeren Ganzen erleben. Basierend auf dem philosophischen Diskurs um Sinn und Arbeit sowie den zwei Konzepten „Aufblühen“ von Seligman und „Resonanz“ von Rosa wird ein interdisziplinäres Modell zu sinnstiftender Hochschulbildung entwickelt. Dieses illustriert, wie eine solchermaßen gestaltete Hochschulbildung durch resonante Beziehungen zu Menschen, (Lern- und Arbeits-)Inhalten, innerhalb der Organisation sowie zur Welt das Potenzial aller Hochschulangehörigen zur Entfaltung bringen und so einen Beitrag zur Lösung gesellschaftlicher Herausforderungen leisten kann

Go-to-market strategy and partnership assessment for a company supplying smart metering and cloud solutions to mini-grids in SSA

Lack of access to modern electricity solutions is not only a barrier to basic human rights, but it also impedes economic progress, as well as reaching health and environmental objectives. Luckily, progress towards electrification is improving, thanks to the growing number of mini-grid actors, among others. FlexGrid is one of them. The company provides electricity to remote villages through the development and installation of solar mini-grids. Unfortunately, a significant number of hurdles exist for mini-grid developers and operators to become profitable and to scale up. As such, FlexGrid’s founders decided it was time to diversify and find a new revenue streams to grow. More precisely, they want to enter the market of smart metering and cloud solutions providers and become a supplier themselves. In addition, FlexGrid was not satisfied with its previous suppliers it had experienced in the past and know other operators feel the same way, which means there could be a gap in the market. This report will thus outline a business plan for becoming a supplier, as well as evaluate whether FlexGrid should undertake this project alone or in partnership with another company, namely Solergie, a Solar Home System developer and operator. The business plan highlights the whole project of the new company being launched by FlexGrid, as well as the expected evolution of the company and its activity during the first 10 years of its existence. The new company will target two groups of customers: mini-grid operators and developers in sub-Saharan Africa (such as FlexGrid themselves), as well as governmental organisations with a stake in rural electrification. These customers need reliable solutions, that are easy to use and do not come at an exaggerated price. The three most important competitors (SparkMeter, SteamaCo, and CalinMeter) claim their solution is reliable, yet multiple of their customers experienced otherwise. The new company created by FlexGrid will thus position itself as an incumbent providing reliable solutions, at a lower price than the main actors in the market. The pricing strategy of penetration, i.e., lower prices than competition, aims at grasping as much market share as possible from the very beginning of the company’s existence. Forecasts show that the company will only become profitable from year 5 (2027). However, as from the launch, the new company has in its portfolio the AMADER organisation in Mali, to whom it will already provide 3 500 smart meters through a grant program (FinExpo). The grant that the company will obtain will cover the losses generated during the first 4 years, as well as allow investments to improve and expand the offering. This report also assesses the possibility of launching the new company in association with another organisation, Solergie, active in the development and installation of Solar Home Systems in sub-Saharan Africa. Three scenarios are analysed. Firstly, a Joint Venture partnership for both the smart meters & gateways as well as the cloud solution. As a result, the company would supply a solution that includes components from both FlexGrid and Solergie. Secondly, a Joint Venture for only the cloud side of the business. This cloud solution would combine elements of both platforms, as to create one management platform able to support mini-grid and solar home systems operators. Both platforms are different but present non-negligible similarities that when combined would create an attractive platform, cost synergies, and target a broader range of customers. Finally, a third scenario is depicted in which Solergie would become the hardware (smart meter & gateway) provider of the new company. In fact, the hardware of Solergie is significantly less expensive and is proven to be reliable. The platform would still be the one of FlexGrid. The strategic analysis performed by our team brings the conclusion that a combination of the scenario described in the business plan and the JV for the software solution would be the best way to go. Eastron would thus be the company’s hardware supplier, whilst the software would be created from the combined platforms of both Solergie and FlexGrid. On the contrary, the scenario of a JV for both hardware and software, is not recommended for two main reasons: both partners are misaligned in terms of objectives for the company and the two business models are different, which makes the two metering solutions technically incompatible. Finally, whether the company is launched by FlexGrid alone or in partnership with Solergie, the global strategy will remain the same in both cases: the prices should be kept at a low level, and the strategic positioning should emphasise reliability and a fully integrated service offering. In the first years of the company’s existence, investments should be focused on the improvement of the smart meters and cloud solution. It is crucial that its first customers positively experience the products, as to recommend it to other operators and developers. In addition, R&D investments should be made to develop a new technology aimed at providing analytics services to national utilities which often experience reliability issues. If research about competition is proven to be correct and forecasts are approximately accurate, the new company should be able to grasp market share relatively quickly. Ultimately, becoming a leader in the smart metering and cloud solution market should be a viable and realisable target.Greenventures Cleantech B