Effect of cleaning /disinfection strategies on helminth infections in finishing pigs

Ascaris suum is the most prevalent helminth on organic pig farms (Carstensen et al., 2002) and is transmitted mainly via the faeces. The use of anthelmintics does not fit in the organic principles and preventive measures are promoted. This project focused on assessing the efficacy of a cleaning protocol for the dunging area of pens on Ascaris s. transmission to pigs. In 4 batches with 8 identical pens for 15 pigs each (n=480 pigs) 6 pigs per pen were orally infected with Ascaris s. The other pigs can be earliest infected at 10 weeks and half of the pens were thoroughly cleaned at that time. Affected livers and egg counts in the manure had to show if this cleaning protocol keeps the non infected animals free of Ascaris s. The results show no effect of the cleaning protocol on the non infected pigs. These pigs had 57% damaged livers in both treatment and 50% had positive egg counts in the manure. The conclusion is that pen hygiene does not contribute to a reduction of Ascaris s. infections

Danish Stable Schools for Experiential Common Learning in Groups of Organic Dairy Farmers

The farmer field school (FFS) is a concept for farmers’ learning, knowledge exchange, and empowerment that has been developed and used in developing countries. In Denmark, a research project focusing on explicit nonantibiotic strategies involves farmers who have actively expressed an interest in phasing out antibiotics from their herds through promotion of animal health. One way of reaching this goal was to form participatory focused farmer groups in an FFS approach, which was adapted to Danish conditions and named “stable schools.” Four stable schools were established and went through a 1-yr cycle with 2 visits at each of the 5 or 6 farms connected to each group. A facilitator was connected to each group whose role was to write the meeting agenda together with the host farmer, direct the meeting, and write the minutes to send to the group members ater the meeting. Through group focus interviews and individual semistructured qualitative interviews of all participants, the approach of the farmers’ goal-directed work toward a common goal was judged to be very valuable and fruitful and based on a common learning process. Complex farming situations were the focus of all groups and in this context, problems were identified and solutions proposed based on each farmer’s individual goals. In this article, we describe the experiences of 4 stable school groups (each comprising farmers and a facilitator), and the common process of building a concept that is suitable for Danish organic dairy farming

Development and Daily Management of an Explicit Strategy of Nonuse of Antimicrobial Drugs in Twelve Danish Organic Dairy Herds

Promotion of animal health and well-being at the individual animal and herd level is an important goal in organic farming. At the same time, chemical products affecting the natural balance among living organisms are prohibited in all areas of the organic farm. From an animal welfare point of view, however, no animal must suffer. Therefore, veterinary drugs are allowed under the European Union’s regulations for organic farming, despite the fact that they are powerful cell toxins affecting both pathogenic and necessary bacteria, and as such in organic terminology, are regarded as “chemical” or “artificial” products. In this article, we present and discuss interviews with 12 Danish organic dairy producers who claim that minimized use or nonuse of antimicrobial drugs is an explicit goal. The dairy producers were at different levels with regard to reduced antimicrobial treatment. An explicit strategy of no antimicrobial treatments is based primarily on a long-term effort to improve herd health, and secondarily, on finding alternative treatments for diseased animals. Improved hygiene, outdoor access, use of nursing cows, and blinding of chronic mastitis quarters were the main techniques in developing a strategy of not using antimicrobial treatments in the herd by dairy producers. Producers’ perception of disease changed from something unavoidable to a disturbing break in the daily rhythm that often could have been avoided. Change toward a nonantimicrobial strategy was gradual and stepwise. All dairy producers in this study desired to preserve the possibility of using antimicrobial drugs in emergencies

PERJANJIAN JAMINAN FIDUSIA DALAM PRAKTIK PERBANKAN MENURUT UNDANG-UNDANG NOMOR 10 TAHUN 1998 TENTANG PERBANKAN

Penelitian ini dilakukan dengan tujuan untuk mengetahui apa saja yang menjadi hak debitur terhadap objek jaminan fidusia menurut Undang-Undang Nomor 42 Tahun 1999 dan apa saja yang menjadi objek jaminan fidusia menurut Undang-Undang Nomor 42 Tahun 1999. Dengan menggunakan metode penelitian yuridis normatif, disimpulkan: 1. Hak debitur terhadap objek jaminan fidusia menurut Undang-Undang Nomor 42 Tahun 1999 yaitu: 1) Debitur berhak menguasai benda yang menjadi objek jaminan fidusia. Debitur diberi hak untuk mempergunakan objek jaminan fidusia tersebut, dengan syarat bahwa pemberi fidusia tidak menjual ataupun mengalihkan objek jaminan fidusia.tersebut kepada pihak lain. 2) Debitur berhak untuk mendapatkan pinjaman uang  yang jumlahnya sesuai yang tertera di dalam surat perjanjian yang dibuat oleh pihak pemberi fidusia dengan pihak bank atau pihak lainnya. 3) Debitur berhak memperdagangkan objek jaminan fidusia yang berupa barang dagangan (inventory). 2. Objek jaminan fidusia menurut Undang-Undang Nomor 42 Tahun 1999 yaitu:  1). Benda bergerak yang berwujud. 2) Benda bergerak yang tidak berwujud. 3) Benda bergerak yang terdaftar. 4) Benda bergerak yang tidak terdaftar. 5) Benda tidak bergerak tertentu, yang tidak dapat dibebani dengan hak tanggungan, seperti hak milik satuan rumah susun di atas tanah hak pakai atas tanah negara dan bangunan rumah yang dibangun di atas tanah orang lain. 6) Benda yang tidak bergerak tertentu, yang tidak dapat dibebani dengan hipotek. 7) Benda tersebut harus dapat dimiliki dan dialihkan.Kata kunci: Perjanjian, jaminan fidusia, perbanka

Tracing the sites of obscured star formation in the Antennae galaxies with Herschel-PACS

FIR imaging of interacting galaxies allows locating even hidden sites of star formation and measuring of the relative strength of nuclear and extra-nuclear star formation. We want to resolve the star-forming sites in the nearby system of the Antennae. Thanks to the unprecedented sharpness and depth of the PACS camera onboard ESA's Herschel Space Observatory, it is possible for the first time to achieve a complete assessment of individual star-forming knots in the FIR with scan maps at 70, 100, and 160 um. We used clump extraction photometry and SED diagnostics to derive the properties related to star-forming activity. The PACS 70, 100, and 160 um maps trace the knotty structure of the most recent star formation along an arc between the two nuclei in the overlap area. The resolution of the starburst knots and additional multi-wavelength data allow their individual star formation history and state to be analysed. In particular, the brightest knot in the mid-infrared (K1), east of the southern nucleus, exhibits the highest activity by far in terms of dust heating and star formation rate, efficiency, and density. With only 2 kpc in diameter, this area has a 10-1000 um luminosity, which is as high as that of our Milky Way. It shows the highest deficiency in radio emission in the radio-to-FIR luminosity ratio and a lack of X-ray emission, classifying it as a very young complex. The brightest 100 and 160 um emission region (K2), which is close to the collision front and consists of 3 knots, also shows a high star formation density and efficiency and lack of X-ray emission in its most obscured part, but an excess in the radio-to-FIR luminosity ratio. This suggests a young stage, too, but different conditions in its interstellar medium. Our results provide important checkpoints for numerical simulations of interacting galaxies when modelling the star formation and stellar feedback.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables (A&A Herschel special issue

Constrained simulations of the Antennae Galaxies: Comparison with Herschel-PACS observations

We present a set of hydro-dynamical numerical simulations of the Antennae galaxies in order to understand the origin of the central overlap starburst. Our dynamical model provides a good match to the observed nuclear and overlap star formation, especially when using a range of rather inefficient stellar feedback efficiencies (0.01 < q_EoS < 0.1). In this case a simple conversion of local star formation to molecular hydrogen surface density motivated by observations accounts well for the observed distribution of CO. Using radiative transfer post-processing we model synthetic far-infrared spectral energy distributions (SEDs) and two-dimensional emission maps for direct comparison with Herschel-PACS observations. For a gas-to-dust ratio of 62:1 and the best matching range of stellar feedback efficiencies the synthetic far-infrared SEDs of the central star forming region peak at values of ~65 - 81 Jy at 99 - 116 um, similar to a three-component modified black body fit to infrared observations. Also the spatial distribution of the far-infrared emission at 70 um, 100 um, and 160 um compares well with the observations: >50% (> 35%) of the emission in each band is concentrated in the overlap region while only < 30% (< 15%) is distributed to the combined emission from the two galactic nuclei in the simulations (observations). As a proof of principle we show that parameter variations in the feedback model result in unambiguous changes both in the global and in the spatially resolved observable far-infrared properties of Antennae galaxy models. Our results strengthen the importance of direct, spatially resolved comparative studies of matched galaxy merger simulations as a valuable tool to constrain the fundamental star formation and feedback physics.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures, 4 tables, submitted to MNRAS, including revisions after first referee report, comments welcom

Observation of coherent delocalized phonon-like modes in DNA under physiological conditions

Underdamped terahertz-frequency delocalized phonon-like modes have long been suggested to play a role in the biological function of DNA. Such phonon modes involve the collective motion of many atoms and are prerequisite to understanding the molecular nature of macroscopic conformational changes and related biochemical phenomena. Initial predictions were based on simple theoretical models of DNA. However, such models do not take into account strong interactions with the surrounding water, which is likely to cause phonon modes to be heavily damped and localized. Here we apply state-of-the-art femtosecond optical Kerr effect spectroscopy, which is currently the only technique capable of taking low-frequency (GHz to THz) vibrational spectra in solution. We are able to demonstrate that phonon modes involving the hydrogen bond network between the strands exist in DNA at physiologically relevant conditions. In addition, the dynamics of the solvating water molecules is slowed down by about a factor of 20 compared with the bulk

Use and usability of custom-made orthopedic shoes

The goal of this study was to investigate the use of custom-made orthopedic shoes (OS) and the association between the use of OS and the most relevant aspects of their usability. Over a 6-month period, patients meeting the inclusion criteria were recruited by 12 orthopedic shoe companies scattered throughout the Netherlands and asked to complete a questionnaire composed of a pre- and post-OS section. Patients with different pathologies were included in the study (n = 339; response 67%). Mean age of the patients was 63 +/- 15 years, and 38% were male. Three months after delivery, 81% of the patients used their OS frequently (4-7 days/week), 13% occasionally (1-3 days/week), and 6% did not use their OS. Associations were found between use and all measured aspects of usability (p-values varied from <0.001 to 0.028). Patients who used their OS more often had a more positive opinion regarding all the aspects of usability. We conclude that all aspects of the usability of OS are relevant in relation to their use and should be taken into account when prescribing and evaluating OS