Prüfung von Gewebewachstum, Mast- und Schlachtleistung sowie Produktqualität unterschiedlicher genetischer Herkünfte und deren züchterische Eignung für die ökologische Schweinefleischerzeugung

Mit Hilfe eines zweigeteilten Versuchsaufbaus wurde die Eignung unterschiedlicher Genotypen für die ökologische Schweinefleischerzeugung untersucht. Im Modul 1 wurden zur Bestimmung des Gewebewachstums (mit Hilfe der Magnet Resonanz Tomographie) und der Fleischqualität insgesamt 90 Tiere der Genetiken Bundeshybridzuchtprogramm (BHZP), Schwäbisch-Hällisches Schwein (SH), Piétrain x SH (PixSH) and Duroc x Deutsche Landrasse (DuxDL) ökologisch gemästet. Die SH-Schweine zeigten von Mastbeginn an das stärkste Fettgewebewachstum und das geringste Muskelwachstum. Die DuxDL-Tiere besaßen die höchsten mittleren Tageszunahmen. PixSH- und BHZP-Tiere besaßen die höchsten Muskelfleischanteile. Die PixSH-Tiere hatten zwar den niedrigsten pH45-Wert und die höchsten Tropfsaftverluste im großen Rückenmuskel 24 Stunden nach der Schlachtung, trotzdem waren keine Qualitätsabweichungen zu beanstanden. Im Modul 2 wurden insgesamt 682 Tiere der Genetiken BHZP, SH, Angler Sattelschwein (AS), PixSH, PixAS, Pi x Deutsches Edelschwein (PixDE) und DuxDL ökologisch und konventionell gehalten und gefüttert. Tageszunahme, Futterverwertung, Muskelfleischanteil, Fettmaße und Fleischqualität aller Schweine wurden durch ein lineares Model mit den fixen Effekten Umwelt (ökologisch, konventionell), Genetik, Geschlecht sowie Interaktion von Genetik and Umwelt geprüft. Obwohl signifikante Interaktionen zwischen Genotyp und Umwelt für die meisten Merkmale (außer Fleischqualität) gefunden wurden, konnten aber keine Unterschiede in der Rangierung zwischen den Genetiken innerhalb der beiden Umwelten beobachtet werden. So schnitten die unter konventionellen Haltungs- und Fütterungsbedingungen leistungsstärksten modernen Genetiken auch unter Ökobedingungen am besten ab. Es wird geschlussfolgert, dass bei vergleichbaren Vermarktungszielen die ökologische Schweinefleischerzeugung keine speziellen Zuchtprogramme benötigt

Leindotterpresskuchen in ökologischen Futterrationen: Stand der Forschung

Organic farming needs home-grown energy and protein sources in livestock feeding. Due to the concept of mixed cropping systems with oilseeds like false flax (Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz) the possible use of its oilcake as a component of feeding rations is attracting attention of farmers. False flax is an undesired substance in the European rules on feeding stuffs and the use of its oilcake in animal feeding is subject of diverse research projects. A review of the recentThe experiences shows that the use of oilcake of false flax in monogastric animals can negatively affect sensory meat quality and metabolism obvious in enlarged organs. In ruminant feeding those effects are not observed. Further research is needed to find out adopted feeding rations for different livestock. In dairy feeding additional experiments on the effect on milk fat contents should confirm existing results

A new doubly discrete analogue of smoke ring flow and the real time simulation of fluid flow

Modelling incompressible ideal fluids as a finite collection of vortex filaments is important in physics (super-fluidity, models for the onset of turbulence) as well as for numerical algorithms used in computer graphics for the real time simulation of smoke. Here we introduce a time-discrete evolution equation for arbitrary closed polygons in 3-space that is a discretisation of the localised induction approximation of filament motion. This discretisation shares with its continuum limit the property that it is a completely integrable system. We apply this polygon evolution to a significant improvement of the numerical algorithms used in Computer Graphics.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figure

Problemanalyse und Identifikation des Handlungsbedarfs bei Pflanzenschutzmittel- und Wirkstofffunden in der Bio-Wertschöpfungskette

Der Umgang mit Funden unzulässiger Pflanzenschutzmittelwirkstoffe entlang der Bio- Wertschöpfungskette stellt eine große Herausforderung für die Branche dar. So kann ein Fund ein Hinweis dafür sein, dass der bio-zertifizierte Produktionsprozess nicht eingehalten wurde. Das bloße Vorhandensein eines Stoffes allein lässt allerdings noch keine Aussagen über die Bio-Integrität des Produkts zu. Im Rahmen des Projekts wurden Problembereiche detailliert analysiert sowie Informationsund Wissenslücken identifiziert. Aus dem Vorhaben resultieren folgende Handlungsempfehlungen: - Für eine sachgerechte Abgrenzung zwischen ubiquitärer Belastung, Wirkungen benachbarter konventioneller Produktionssysteme und Verstößen gegen die Vorgaben der EU-Öko-Verordnung ist eine verbesserte Durchführung und Zugänglichkeit eines umfassenden Umweltmonitorings von im Öko-Landbau unzulässigen Wirkstoffen unerlässlich. - Für eine sachgerechte Beurteilung von unzulässigen Wirkstofffunden entlang der Bio-Wertschöpfungskette steht bislang nur eine unzureichende und heterogene Datenbasis zur Verfügung. Fälle sollten systematisch elektronisch auswertbar dokumentiert werden. Hierzu wird eine verbesserte Erfassung benötigt. - Der einseitige Fokus auf Endproduktanalytik im Kontext moderner Pflanzenschutzmittel-Wirkstoffe kann nur einen begrenzten Beitrag zur Absicherung der Integrität von Bio-Produkten leisten. Bei Bio-Kontrollen sollte künftig stärker die Durchführung von Prozessproben (Betriebsmittel, Blattproben, Staubproben) fokussiert werden. - Die Situationsanalyse zeigt bei der EU-Öko-Kontrolle ein heterogenes Kompetenzniveau im Umgang mit unzulässigen Wirkstofffunden auf. Fachlich fundierte Qualifizierungs- und Bildungsmaßnahmen müssen vorangetrieben werden. - Im EU-weiten Handel führen unterschiedliche Vorgehensweisen mit Wirkstofffunden zu Wettbewerbsverzerrungen. Zusätzlich ist der unternehmensspezifische Umgang sehr heterogen. Vorgehensweisen sollten weiter harmonisiert und unter Berücksichtigung der Minimierung von Folgeschäden für Unternehmen, die nicht Verursacher des Verstoßes sind, geregelt werden

Safety assurance of a high voltage controller for an industrial robotic system

Due to the risk of discharge sparks and ignition, there are strict rules concerning the safety of high voltage electrostatic systems used in industrial painting robots. In order to assure that the system fulfils its safety requirements, formal verification is an important tool to supplement traditional testing and quality assurance procedures. The work in this paper presents formal verification of the most important safety functions of a high voltage controller. The controller has been modelled as a finite state machine, which was formally verified using two different model checking software tools; Simulink Design Verifier and RoboTool. Five safety critical properties were specified and formally verified using the two tools. Simulink was chosen as a low-threshold entry point since MathWorks products are well known to most practitioners. RoboTool serves as a software tool targeted towards model checking, thus providing more advanced options for the more experienced user. The comparative study and results show that all properties were successfully verified. The verification times in both tools were in the order of a few minutes, which was within the acceptable time limit for this particular application

Mutations in NSUN2 Cause Autosomal- Recessive Intellectual Disability

With a prevalence between 1 and 3%, hereditary forms of intellectual disability (ID) are among the most important problems in health care. Particularly, autosomal-recessive forms of the disorder have a very heterogeneous molecular basis, and genes with an increased number of disease-causing mutations are not common. Here, we report on three different mutations (two nonsense mutations, c.679C>T [p.Gln227∗] and c.1114C>T [p.Gln372∗], as well as one splicing mutation, g.6622224A>C [p.Ile179Argfs∗192]) that cause a loss of the tRNA-methyltransferase-encoding NSUN2 main transcript in homozygotes. We identified the mutations by sequencing exons and exon-intron boundaries within the genomic region where the linkage intervals of three independent consanguineous families of Iranian and Kurdish origin overlapped with the previously described MRT5 locus. In order to gain further evidence concerning the effect of a loss of NSUN2 on memory and learning, we constructed a Drosophila model by deleting the NSUN2 ortholog, CG6133, and investigated the mutants by using molecular and behavioral approaches. When the Drosophila melanogaster NSUN2 ortholog was deleted, severe short-term-memory (STM) deficits were observed; STM could be rescued by re-expression of the wild-type protein in the nervous system. The humans homozygous for NSUN2 mutations showed an overlapping phenotype consisting of moderate to severe ID and facial dysmorphism (which includes a long face, characteristic eyebrows, a long nose, and a small chin), suggesting that mutations in this gene might even induce a syndromic form of ID. Moreover, our observations from the Drosophila model point toward an evolutionarily conserved role of RNA methylation in normal cognitive development

BOD1 Is Required for Cognitive Function in Humans and <i>Drosophila</i>

Here we report a stop-mutation in the BOD1 (Biorientation Defective 1) gene, which co-segregates with intellectual disability in a large consanguineous family, where individuals that are homozygous for the mutation have no detectable BOD1 mRNA or protein. The BOD1 protein is required for proper chromosome segregation, regulating phosphorylation of PLK1 substrates by modulating Protein Phosphatase 2A (PP2A) activity during mitosis. We report that fibroblast cell lines derived from homozygous BOD1 mutation carriers show aberrant localisation of the cell cycle kinase PLK1 and its phosphatase PP2A at mitotic kinetochores. However, in contrast to the mitotic arrest observed in BOD1-siRNA treated HeLa cells, patient-derived cells progressed through mitosis with no apparent segregation defects but at an accelerated rate compared to controls. The relatively normal cell cycle progression observed in cultured cells is in line with the absence of gross structural brain abnormalities in the affected individuals. Moreover, we found that in normal adult brain tissues BOD1 expression is maintained at considerable levels, in contrast to PLK1 expression, and provide evidence for synaptic localization of Bod1 in murine neurons. These observations suggest that BOD1 plays a cell cycle-independent role in the nervous system. To address this possibility, we established two Drosophila models, where neuron-specific knockdown of BOD1 caused pronounced learning deficits and significant abnormalities in synapse morphology. Together our results reveal novel postmitotic functions of BOD1 as well as pathogenic mechanisms that strongly support a causative role of BOD1 deficiency in the aetiology of intellectual disability. Moreover, by demonstrating its requirement for cognitive function in humans and Drosophila we provide evidence for a conserved role of BOD1 in the development and maintenance of cognitive features

Determination of hydroxyl groups in biorefinery resources via quantitative 31P NMR spectroscopy

The analysis of chemical structural characteristics of biorefinery product streams (such as lignin and tannin) has advanced substantially over the past decade, with traditional wet-chemical techniques being replaced or supplemented by NMR methodologies. Quantitative 31P NMR spectroscopy is a promising technique for the analysis of hydroxyl groups because of its unique characterization capability and broad potential applicability across the biorefinery research community. This protocol describes procedures for (i) the preparation/solubilization of lignin and tannin, (ii) the phosphitylation of their hydroxyl groups, (iii) NMR acquisition details, and (iv) the ensuing data analyses and means to precisely calculate the content of the different types of hydroxyl groups. Compared with traditional wet-chemical techniques, the technique of quantitative 31P NMR spectroscopy offers unique advantages in measuring hydroxyl groups in a single spectrum with high signal resolution. The method provides complete quantitative information about the hydroxyl groups with small amounts of sample (~30 mg) within a relatively short experimental time (~30-120 min)

Potentials of low-budget microdrones

Post-industrial areas in Europe, such as the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan region in Germany, include cultural heritage sites fostering local and regional identities with the industrial past. Today, these landmarks are popular places of interest for visitors. In addition to portable camera devices, low-budget ultra-lightweight unmanned aerial vehicles, such as micro quadcopter drones, are on their way to being established as mass photography equipment. This low-cost hardware is not only useful for recreational usage but also supports individualized remote sensing with optical images and facilitates the acquisition of 3D point clouds of the targeted object(s). Both data sets are valuable and accurate geospatial data resources for further processing of textured 3D models. To experience these 3D models in a timely way, these 3D visualizations can directly be imported into game engines. They can be extended with modern interaction techniques and additional (semantic) information. The visualization of the data can be explored in immersive virtual environments, which allows, for instance, urban planners to use low-cost microdrones to 3D map the human impact on the environment and preserve this status in a 3D model that can be analyzed and explored in following steps. A case example of the old wage hall of the Zeche "Bonifacius" (Essen, Germany) with its simple building structure showed that it is possible to generate a detailed and accurate 3D model based on the microdrone data. The point cloud which the 3D model of the old wage hall was based on represented partly better data accuracy than the point clouds derived from airborne laser scanning and offered by public agencies as open data. On average, the distance between the point clouds was 0.7 m, while the average distance between the airborne laser scanning point cloud and the 3D model was −0.02 m. Matching high-quality textures of the building facades brings in a new aspect of 3D data quality which can be adopted when creating immersive virtual environments using the Unity engine. The example of the wage hall makes it clear that the use of low-cost drones and the subsequent data processing can result in valuable sources of point clouds and textured 3D models