Survey about the dissemination of different cabin categories in plant protection of German practice

Das Bundesamt für Verbraucherschutz und Lebensmittelsicherheit (BVL) hat festgelegt, dass bestimmte Fahrerkabinen beim Einsatz im Pflanzenschutz geeignet sind, persönliche Schutzausrüstung zu ersetzen, die mit der Zulassung von Pflanzenschutzmitteln während der Anwendung vorgeschrieben sind. Diese Schutzwirkung wird seit 2017 für Fahrerkabinen der Kategorien 3 oder 4 (EN 15695-1/2017) und seit 2020 für geschlossene Kabinen, die über eine Klimaanlage sowie eine Zuluft-Filterung verfügen (BVL-Kategorie 2*), angenommen. Das Schutzniveau von Kat. 2* Kabinen wird aktuell in einem Forschungsprojekt untersucht.Vor diesem Hintergrund wurde eine Umfrage bei Praktikern durchgeführt, um mehr Informationen über die Verbreitung und Ausstattung von Traktorkabinen in der landwirtschaftlichen Praxis in Deutschland zu erhalten.Der Fragebogen gliedert sich in zwei Abschnitte. Im ersten Teil werden demografische Daten zur Person sowie Daten zur Struktur und Lage des Betriebs erfasst. Im zweiten Teil geht es um die technische Ausstattung und Nutzung der Fahrzeuge. Insgesamt konnten 4.199 gültige Fragebögen ausgewertet werden. Die Ergebnisse aus Teil 1 der Umfrage zur prozentualen Verteilung der beteiligten Betriebe über die Bundesländer und die repräsentierten Betriebsgrößen sind nahe an den statistischen Daten von Destatis. Größere Betriebe sind in dieser Umfrage leicht überrepräsentiert. Trotzdem liefern die Ergebnisse profunde Informationen über die Verbreitung von verschiedenen Kabinenkategorien in der landwirtschaftlichen Praxis im Pflanzenschutz in Deutschland.Die Auswertung zeigt, dass es in den letzten 10 Jahren zu einer signifikanten Zunahme von Kabinen der Kategorie 3 und 4 in der Praxis gekommen ist, mit einem etwas höheren Anteil bei den größeren Betrieben. In Bezug auf die Betriebsform ist der Anteil von Kategorie 3 und 4 Kabinen insbesondere im Obstbau, in den Spezialkulturen und bei den Lohnunternehmen höher. Die Umfrage lieferte weitere Ergebnisse, unabhängig von der Kabinenkategorie. Es zeigte sich, dass das Wechselintervall bei den Zuluft-Filtern in den meisten Fällen kleiner als 2 Jahre ist, dass 40% der Befragten angeben, ihre Kabinen nach der Applikation von Pflanzenschutzmitteln zu reinigen und knapp 90% der Anwender sich in ihrer Kabine gut gegen Pflanzenschutzmittel geschützt fühlen. Die Ergebnisse sind plausibel und decken sich mit früheren Annahmen. Mit der Veröffentlichung der Ergebnisse liegen jetzt stichhaltige Informationen zu diesem Thema vor.The Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) specified that certain driver cabs are suitable to replace personal protective equipment prescribed with the approval of plant protection products during application. This protective effect has been accepted since 2017 for category 3 or 4 driver's cabs (EN 15695-1/2017) and since 2020 for enclosed cabs equipped with air conditioning including an air filtration system (BVL category 2*). The protection level of cat. 2* cabins is currently being investigated in a research project. In this context, a survey of farmers was conducted to obtain more information about the distribution and equipment of tractor cabins in agricultural practice in Germany. The questionnaire is divided into two sections. The first part collects personal demographic data and data on the structure and location of the farms. The second part deals with the technical equipment and use of the vehicles. A total of 4,199 valid questionnaires were evaluated. The results from Part 1 of the survey on the percentage distribution of participating farms across the German Federal States and the sizes of farms represented are close to the statistical data from Destatis. Larger farms are slightly overrepresented in this survey. Nevertheless, the results provide profound information on the prevalence of different cab categories in agricultural practice in plant protection in Germany.The survey provided further results, regardless of the cab category. It showed that the replacement interval for cabin air filters is less than 2 years in most cases, that 40% of the participants indicated that they clean their cab after applying plant protection products, and that almost 90% of the users feel well protected against plant protection products in their cab. The results are plausible and in line with earlier assumptions. With the publication of the results, valid information on this topic is now available

Deep transformation models for functional outcome prediction after acute ischemic stroke

In many medical applications, interpretable models with high prediction performance are sought. Often, those models are required to handle semi-structured data like tabular and image data. We show how to apply deep transformation models (DTMs) for distributional regression which fulfill these requirements. DTMs allow the data analyst to specify (deep) neural networks for different input modalities making them applicable to various research questions. Like statistical models, DTMs can provide interpretable effect estimates while achieving the state-of-the-art prediction performance of deep neural networks. In addition, the construction of ensembles of DTMs that retain model structure and interpretability allows quantifying epistemic and aleatoric uncertainty. In this study, we compare several DTMs, including baseline-adjusted models, trained on a semi-structured data set of 407 stroke patients with the aim to predict ordinal functional outcome three months after stroke. We follow statistical principles of model-building to achieve an adequate trade-off between interpretability and flexibility while assessing the relative importance of the involved data modalities. We evaluate the models for an ordinal and dichotomized version of the outcome as used in clinical practice. We show that both, tabular clinical and brain imaging data, are useful for functional outcome prediction, while models based on tabular data only outperform those based on imaging data only. There is no substantial evidence for improved prediction when combining both data modalities. Overall, we highlight that DTMs provide a powerful, interpretable approach to analyzing semi-structured data and that they have the potential to support clinical decision making.Comment: Preprint under revie

Development of a method for measuring exposure of residents and bystanders following high crop application of plant protection products

Residents and bystanders may be exposed to spray drift during application of plant protection products. The assessment of possible risks is carried out on the basis of a harmonized exposure model of EFSA. For orchards and vineyards, there are currently still gaps in the assessment. These data gaps have been addressed by BVL, JKI and BfR in a joint project. The development of a robust method to perform reproducible field trials was a core element of the project. The fluorescent dye pyranine served in the trials as a readily detectable substitute for real plant protection products. In the course of several years of optimization, suitable clothing was identified for mannequins representing adults and children. Tyvek® cover­alls proved suitable for detecting even small amounts of dye with high accuracy. The development process provides the basis for a JKI guideline for preparing and conducting field trials. The different development stages are described here. The data generated with the developed method will enable EFSA to improve the exposure assessment models

Development of a selective testing method to pesticide aerosols for characterization and comparison of agricultural tractor cabs classified according to EN 15695-1

Only preliminary results from tactile tests are currently available on the exposure-reducing effect of different tractor cabs according to EN 15695-1. Scientifically reliable data are not available. To close this gap, a project was initiated by the Federal Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) and by the Social Insurance for Agriculture, Forestry and Horticulture (SVLFG) – with the participation of the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR). Due to the expertise and the available technical facilities (machinery and laboratories), corresponding tests were carried out by the Institute for Application Techniques in Plant Protection at the Julius Kühn Institute (JKI), Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants. As part of the project, data was collected to enable a well-founded review of the management decision on the protective effect of the different type of cabins mentioned in EN 15695-1. The current paper gives an overview about the methodology developed for gathering the data

Thermophilic anaerobic oxidation of methane by marine microbial consortia

The anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) with sulfate controls the emission of the greenhouse gas methane from the ocean floor. AOM is performed by microbial consortia of archaea (ANME) associated with partners related to sulfate-reducing bacteria. In vitro enrichments of AOM were so far only successful at temperatures ⩽25 °C; however, energy gain for growth by AOM with sulfate is in principle also possible at higher temperatures. Sequences of 16S rRNA genes and core lipids characteristic for ANME as well as hints of in situ AOM activity were indeed reported for geothermally heated marine environments, yet no direct evidence for thermophilic growth of marine ANME consortia was obtained to date. To study possible thermophilic AOM, we investigated hydrothermally influenced sediment from the Guaymas Basin. In vitro incubations showed activity of sulfate-dependent methane oxidation between 5 and 70 °C with an apparent optimum between 45 and 60 °C. AOM was absent at temperatures ⩾75 °C. Long-term enrichment of AOM was fastest at 50 °C, yielding a 13-fold increase of methane-dependent sulfate reduction within 250 days, equivalent to an apparent doubling time of 68 days. The enrichments were dominated by novel ANME-1 consortia, mostly associated with bacterial partners of the deltaproteobacterial HotSeep-1 cluster, a deeply branching phylogenetic group previously found in a butane-amended 60 °C-enrichment culture of Guaymas sediments. The closest relatives (Desulfurella spp.; Hippea maritima) are moderately thermophilic sulfur reducers. Results indicate that AOM and ANME archaea could be of biogeochemical relevance not only in cold to moderate but also in hot marine habitats

Plant D-2-Hydroxyglutarate Dehydrogenase Participates in the Catabolism of Lysine Especially during Senescence

D-2-Hydroxyglutarate dehydrogenase (D-2HGDH) catalyzes the specific and efficient oxidation of D-2-hydroxyglutarate (D-2HG) to 2-oxoglutarate using FAD as a cofactor. In this work, we demonstrate that D-2HGDH localizes to plant mitochondria and that its expression increases gradually during developmental and dark-induced senescence in Arabidopsis thaliana, indicating an enhanced demand of respiration of alternative substrates through this enzymatic system under these conditions. Using loss-of-function mutants in D-2HGDH(d2hgdh1) and stable isotope dilution LC-MS/MS, we found that the D-isomer of 2HG accumulated in leaves of d2hgdh1 during both forms of carbon starvation. In addition to this, d2hgdh1 presented enhanced levels of most TCA cycle intermediates and free amino acids. In contrast to the deleterious effects caused by a deficiency in D-2HGDH in humans, d2hgdh1 and overexpressing lines of D-2HGDH showed normal developmental and senescence phenotypes, indicating a mild role of D-2HGDH in the tested conditions. Moreover, metabolic fingerprinting of leaves of plants grown in media supplemented with putative precursors indicated that D-2HG most probably originates during the catabolism of lysine. Finally, the L-isomer of 2HG was also detected in leaf extracts, indicating that both chiral forms of 2HG participate in plant metabolism

Radiolucent lines in low-contact-stress mobile-bearing total knee arthroplasty: a blinded and matched case control study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Low-contact-stress (LCS) mobile-bearing total knee arthroplasty (TKA) (Johnson & Johnson, New Brunswick, NJ; previously: DePuy, Warsawa, USA) provides excellent functional results and wear rates in long-term follow-up analyses. Radiological analysis shows radiolucent lines (RLL) appearing immediately or two years after primary implantation, indicative of poor seat. Investigations proved RLL to be more frequent in uncemented TKA, resulting in a consensus to cement the tibial plateau, but their association with clinical findings and patients discomfort and knee pain is still unknown.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>553 patients with 566 low-contact-stress (LCS) total knee prostheses were screened for continuous moderate knee pain. We compared tibial stress shielding classified by Ewald in patients suffering from pain with a matched, pain-free control group on blinded X-rays. We hypothesized a positive correlation between pain and radiolucency and higher frequency of such radiolucent lines in the most medial and most lateral zones of the tibial plateau.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Twenty-eight patients suffered from knee pain in total. Radiolucencies were detected in 27 of these cases and in six out of 28 matched controls without knee pain. We could demonstrate a significant correlation of knee pain and radiolucencies, which appeared significantly more frequently in the outermost zones of the tibial plateau.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our findings suggest that radiolucent lines, representing poor implant seat, about the tibial plateau are associated with knee pain in LCS patients. Radiolucencies are observed more often in noncemented LCS, and cementing the tibial plateau might improve implant seat and reduce both radiolucent lines and associated knee pain.</p

ReSurveyGermany: Vegetation-plot time-series over the past hundred years in Germany

Vegetation-plot resurvey data are a main source of information on terrestrial biodiversity change, with records reaching back more than one century. Although more and more data from re-sampled plots have been published, there is not yet a comprehensive open-access dataset available for analysis. Here, we compiled and harmonised vegetation-plot resurvey data from Germany covering almost 100 years. We show the distribution of the plot data in space, time and across habitat types of the European Nature Information System (EUNIS). In addition, we include metadata on geographic location, plot size and vegetation structure. The data allow temporal biodiversity change to be assessed at the community scale, reaching back further into the past than most comparable data yet available. They also enable tracking changes in the incidence and distribution of individual species across Germany. In summary, the data come at a level of detail that holds promise for broadening our understanding of the mechanisms and drivers behind plant diversity change over the last century