Dynamics of rural areas (DORA): National report - Germany

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New York State Disability and Employment Status Report, 2009.

This Status Report is intended to provide information on disability in New York State, focusing on the working-age population (16-64 years old, except where noted). The report presents: 1) estimates of disability prevalence overall and among various groups; 2) indications of where disparities exist in employment rate, educational attainment, and financial status between people with and without disabilities; and 3) characteristics of New York State which may influence employment outcomes for people with disabilities

Role of caspases and non-caspase proteases in cell death

Undoubtedly, caspases are the major driving force for apoptosis execution and mechanisms of their activation and inhibition have been largely unveiled. Recent progress has been made with regard to the exact intracellular ordering of caspases, monitoring their activities in vivo and unveiling their substrate degradomes. Moreover, non-caspase proteases seem to assist caspases in the completion of the death execution program. Here we will consider some very recent data dealing with these aspects. We will also provide novel insights into the mechanisms that dictate apoptotic variability within a cell population

The Role of Egg Production in the Etiology of Keel Bone Damage in Laying Hens

Keel bone fractures and deviations belong to the most severe animal welfare problems in laying hens and are influenced by several factors such as husbandry system and genetic background. It is likely that egg production also influences keel bone health due to the high demand of calcium for the eggshell, which is, in part, taken from the skeleton. The high estrogen plasma concentration, which is linked to the high laying performance, may also affect the keel bone as sexual steroids have been shown to influence bone health. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between egg production, genetically determined high laying performance, estradiol-17ß concentration, and keel bone characteristics. Two hundred hens of two layer lines differing in laying performance (WLA: high performing; G11: low performing) were divided into four treatment groups: Group S received an implant containing a GnRH agonist that suppressed egg production, group E received an implant containing the sexual steroid estradiol-17ß, group SE received both implants, and group C were kept as control hens. Between the 12th and the 62nd weeks of age, the keel bone of all hens was radiographed and estradiol-17ß plasma concentration was assessed at regular intervals. Non-egg laying hens showed a lower risk of keel bone fracture and a higher radiographic density compared to egg laying hens. Exogenous estradiol-17ß was associated with a moderately higher risk of fracture within egg laying but with a lower risk of fracture and a higher radiographic density within non-egg laying hens. The high performing layer line WLA showed a significantly higher fracture risk but also a higher radiographic density compared to the low performing layer line G11. In contrast, neither the risk nor the severity of deviations were unambiguously influenced by egg production or layer line. We assume that within a layer line, there is a strong association between egg production and keel bone fractures, and, possibly, bone mineral density, but not between egg production and deviations. Moreover, our results confirm that genetic background influences fracture prevalence and indicate that the selection for high laying performance may negatively influence keel bone health

Tierschutzindikatoren für die betriebliche Eigenkontrolle – Impulse für die Ökologische Landwirtschaft

Gemäß Tierschutzgesetz müssen Nutztierhalter*innen seit 2014 im Rahmen einer betrieblichen Eigenkontrolle überprüfen, ob sie ihre Herden tiergerecht halten. Eine Möglichkeit dieser Pflicht beizukommen ist die Verwendung der KTBL-Tierschutzindikatoren für Rinder, Geflügel und Schweine. In dem Forschungsvorhaben „EiKoTiGer – Eigenkontrolle Tiergerechtheit“ („Praxistauglichkeit von Tierschutzindikatoren bei der betrieblichen Eigenkontrolle, Erarbeitung eines Orientierungsrahmens sowie technische Umsetzung in digitalen Anwendungen“) wird derzeit bundesweit auf insgesamt 120 Praxisbetrieben (Rind, Schwein und Geflügel) untersucht, ob die ausgewählten und in den KTBL-Leitfäden vorgeschlagenen Tierschutzindikatoren für die betrieblichen Eigenkontrollen praktikabel und sinnvoll einsetzbar sind. Das Ziel des Workshops ist es, mit Vertreter*innen aus Beratung, Praxis und Wissenschaft in einen Dialog zu treten, um gemeinsam den Nutzen und die Verwendbarkeit der Ergebnisse/Erkenntnisse aus dem „EiKoTiGer“-Projekt für die Ökologische Landwirtschaft zu diskutieren. In einem Impulsvortrag werden die Hintergründe, wie z.B. die Entstehungsgeschichte der KTBL-Tierschutzindikatoren-Leitfäden erläutert. Außerdem wird ein kurzer Einblick gegeben, wie tierbezogene Indikatoren bereits von den Anbauverbänden für die Tierwohl-Kontrolle in der Ökologischen Landwirtschaft eingesetzt werden. Anschließend werden mit den Workshopteilnehmer*innen in kleinen Gruppen drei Themenbereiche betrachtet und diskutiert (Auswahlprozedere der Indikatoren, praktische Anwendung der Indikatoren, Schulungskonzepte). Am Ende der Diskussionsrunden werden die Ergebnisse für alle Teilnehmer*innen zusammengefasst

Estradiol-17ß Is Influenced by Age, Housing System, and Laying Performance in Genetically Divergent Laying Hens (Gallus gallus f.d.)

The estrogen estradiol-17ß is known as one of the major gonadal steroid hormones with different functions in reproduction. In this study we analyzed estradiol-17ß concentration in laying hens of four pure bred chicken laying lines at four different time intervals of the laying period (17th–19th week of age, 33rd–35th week of age, 49th–51st week of age, and 72nd week of age). The high performing white egg (WLA) and brown egg (BLA) layer lines as well as the low performing white (R11) and brown (L68) layer lines were kept in both single cages and a floor housing system. We investigated whether there were differences in estradiol -17ß concentrations between lines at different ages that could be related to selection for high egg production or phylogenetic origin of the animals, and whether there was an influence of housing conditions on estradiol-17ß. Estradiol-17ß concentrations differed between high and low performing layer lines at all time intervals studied. High performing hens showed higher estradiol-17ß concentrations compared to low performing hens. In all lines, highest estradiol-17ß concentration was measured at their 49th to their 51st week of age, whereas the peak of laying intensity was observed at their 33rd to their 35th week of age. Additionally, hens with fewer opportunities for activity housed in cages showed higher estradiol-17ß concentrations than hens kept in a floor housing system with more movement possibilities. We could show that laying performance is strongly linked with estradiol -17ß concentration. This concentration changes during laying period and is also influenced by the housing system

More Than Eggs – Relationship Between Productivity and Learning in Laying Hens

The intense selection of chickens for production traits, such as egg laying, is thought to cause undesirable side effects and changes in behavior. Trade-offs resulting from energy expenditure in productivity may influence other traits: in order to sustain energetic costs for high egg production, energy expenditure may be redirected away from specific behavioral traits. For example, such energetic trade-offs may change the hens’ cognitive abilities. Therefore, we hypothesized highly productive laying hens to show reduced learning performance in comparison to moderate productive lines. We examined the learning ability of four chicken lines that differed in laying performance (200 versus 300 eggs/year) and phylogenetic origin (brown/white layer; respectively, within performance). In total 61 hens were tested in semi-automated Skinner boxes in a three-phase learning paradigm (initial learning, reversal learning, extinction). To measure the hens’ learning performance within each phase, we compared the number of active decisions needed to fulfill a learning criteria (80% correct choices for learning, 70% no responses at extinction) using linear models. Differences between the proportions of hens per line that reached criterion on each phase of the learning tasks were analyzed by using a Kaplan–Meier (KM) survival analysis. A greater proportion of high productive hens achieved the learning criteria on each phase compared to less productive hens (Chi23 = 8.25, p = 0.041). Furthermore, high productive hens accomplished the learning criteria after fewer active decisions in the initial phase (p = 0.012) and in extinction (p = 0.004) compared to the less selected lines. Phylogenetic origin was associated with differences in learning in extinction. Our results contradict our hypothesis and indicate that the selection for productivity traits has led to changes in learning behavior and the high productive laying hens possessed a better learning strategy compared to moderate productive hens in a feeding-rewarding context. This better performance may be a response to constraints resulting from high selection as it may enable these hens to efficiently acquire additional energy resources. Underlying mechanisms for this may be directly related to differences in neuronal structure or indirectly to foraging strategies and changes in personality traits such as fearfulness and sociality

Cell entry of a host-targeting protein of oomycetes requires gp96

The animal-pathogenic oomycete Saprolegnia parasitica causes serious losses in aquaculture by infecting and killing freshwater fish. Like plant-pathogenic oomycetes, S. parasitica employs similar infection structures and secretes effector proteins that translocate into host cells to manipulate the host. Here, we show that the host-targeting protein SpHtp3 enters fish cells in a pathogen-independent manner. This uptake process is guided by a gp96-like receptor and can be inhibited by supramolecular tweezers. The C-terminus of SpHtp3 (containing the amino acid sequence YKARK), and not the N-terminal RxLR motif, is responsible for the uptake into host cells. Following translocation, SpHtp3 is released from vesicles into the cytoplasm by another host-targeting protein where it degrades nucleic acids. The effector translocation mechanism described here, is potentially also relevant for other pathogen-host interactions as gp96 is found in both animals and plants.This work is supported by the [European Community’s] Seventh Framework Programme [FP7/2007–2013] under grant agreement no. [238550] (L.L., J.D.-U., C.J.S., P.v.W.); BBSRC [BBE007120/1, BB/J018333/1 and BB/G012075/1] (F.T., I.d.B., C.J.S., S.W., P.v.W.); Newton Global Partnership Award [BB/N005058/1] (F.T., P.v.W.), the University of Aberdeen (A.D.T., T.R., C.J.S., P.v.W.) and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft [CRC1093] (P.B., T.S.). We would like to acknowledge the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia for funding INA. We would like to thank Brian Haas for his bioinformatics support. We would like to acknowledge Neil Gow and Johannes van den Boom for critical reading of the manuscript. We would like to acknowledge Svetlana Rezinciuc for technical help with pH-studies