Catch Crops in Organic Farming Systems without Livestock Husbandry - Simulations with the DAISY model

This paper presents simulations of the soil-plant-atmosphere model DAISY based on an organic crop rotation with incorporation of different catch crops following pea as a leguminous cash crop. Special emphasise was put on the simulation of N-mineralisation/-immobilisation and of soil microbial biomass N. The DAISY model was able to simulate soil mineral N and soil microbial biomass N after soil incorporation of catch crop plant residues to some extend. Several processes need further attention and may be integrated into the DAISY model: (1) soil tillage induced mobilisation of organic material including considerable amounts of organic N, (2) winter killing of sensitive plant species and varieties, (3) decomposition of plant residues at the soil surface as occurring after winter killing, (4) decomposition of easily decomposable plant residues at low temperatures, (5) soil microbial residues as an organic pool temporarily protected against turnover. Furthermore, reliable criteria for the subdivision of green plant residues into an easily decomposable pool and a more recalcitrant pool have to be developed

German and Israeli Innovation: The Best of Two Worlds

This study reviews – through desk research and expert interviews with Mittelstand companies, startups and ecosystem experts – the current status of the Israeli startup ecosystem and the Mittelstand region of North Rhine- Westphalia (NRW), Germany. As a case study, it highlights potential opportunities for collaboration and analyzes different engagement modes that might serve to connect the two regions. The potential synergies between the two economies are based on a high degree of complementarity. A comparison of NRW’s key verticals and Israel’s primary areas of innovation indicates that there is significant overlap in verticals, such as artificial intelligence (AI), the internet of things (IoT), sensors and cybersecurity. Israeli startups can offer speed, agility and new ideas, while German Mittelstand companies can contribute expertise in production and scaling, access to markets, capital and support. The differences between Mittelstand companies and startups are less pronounced than those between startups and big corporations. However, three current barriers to fruitful collaboration have been identified: 1) a lack of access, 2) a lack of transparency regarding relevant players in the market, and 3) a lack of the internal resources needed to select the right partners, often due to time constraints or a lack of internal expertise on this issue. To ensure that positive business opportunities ensue, Mittelstand companies and startups alike have to be proactive in their search for cooperation partners and draw on a range of existing engagement modes (e.g., events, communities, accelerators). The interviews and the research conducted for this study made clear that no single mode of engagement can address all the needs and challenges associated with German-Israeli collaboration

Norms, enforcement, and tax evasion

This paper studies individual and social motives in tax evasion. We build a simple dynamic model that incorporates these motives and their interaction. The social motives underpin the role of norms and is the source of the dynamics that we study. Our empirical analysis exploits the adoption in 1990 of a poll tax to fund local government in the UK, which led to widespread evasion. The evidence is consistent with the model's main predictions on the dynamics of evasion

The effect of preoperative methylprednisolone on pulmonary function and pain after lung operations

AbstractThirty-six patients undergoing elective thoracotomy with pulmonary resection with the use of combined epidural and general anesthesia were randomized into a double-blind study to receive a single intravenous preoperative dose of methylprednisolone 25 mg/kg body weight or a placebo (saline solution). Postoperative pain relief consisted of epidural morphine 4 mg and paracetamol 1 gm three times a day for 4 days. Postoperative pulmonary function (peak expiratory flow rate, forced expiratory volume in first second, forced vital capacity) was evaluated on days 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7 and after 1 month. The value obtained after 1 month served as the control value. Pain score at rest and during cough was evaluated after 4 and 8 hours and on days 1, 2, 3, and 4. Pulmonary function was reduced after operation to the same degree in the steroid and placebo group: 42% versus 41% for forced expiratory volume in first second and 38% versus 39% for forced vital capacity, compared with control values after 1 month. Pain score was reduced in the steroid group after 4 hours and on day 1 during rest and after 4 and 8 hours and on day 2 during cough, compared with results in the placebo group ( p < 0.05). In the steroid group three patients underwent reoperation because of leakage through the chest wall incision. In conclusion, administration of a single preoperative dose of methylprednisolone did not affect the postoperative reduction in pulmonary function after thoracotomy despite attenuated pain response, and the results do not warrant steroid administration before lung operation. (J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 1996;112:142-5

Application of a pig ligated intestinal loop model for early Lawsonia intracellularis infection

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Porcine proliferative enteropathy in pigs is caused by the obligate, intracellular bacterium <it>Lawsonia intracellularis</it>. <it>In vitro </it>studies have shown close bacterium-cell interaction followed by cellular uptake of the bacterium within 3 h post inoculation (PI). However, knowledge of the initial <it>in vivo </it>interaction between porcine intestinal epithelium and the bacterium is limited. The aims of the present study were to evaluate the usefulness of a ligated small intestinal loop model to study <it>L. intracellularis </it>infections and to obtain information on the very early <it>L. intracellularis</it>-enterocyte interactions.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A ligated small intestinal loop model using three different <it>L. intracellularis </it>inocula was applied to 10-11-week-old pigs. The inocula were 1) wild type bacteria derived from overnight incubation of <it>L. intracellularis </it>bacteria from spontaneous disease, 2) crude vaccine bacteria (Enterisol^®Ileitis Vet), and 3) vaccine bacteria propagated in cell culture. The bacteria-enterocyte interaction was visualised using immunohistochemistry on specimens derived 1, 3 and 6 h PI respectively.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Although at a low level, close contact between bacteria and the enterocyte brush border including intracellular uptake of bacteria in mature enterocytes was seen at 3 and 6 h PI for the vaccine and the propagated vaccine inocula. Interaction between the wild-type bacteria and villus enterocytes was scarce and only seen at 6 h PI, where a few bacteria were found in close contact with the brush border.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The ligated intestinal loop model was useful with respect to maintaining an intact intestinal morphology for up to 6 h. Furthermore, the study demonstrated that <it>L. intracellularis </it>interacts with villus enterocytes within 3 to 6 h after inoculation into intestinal loops and that the bacterium, as shown for the vaccine bacteria, propagated as well as non-propagated, was able to invade mature enterocytes. Thus, the study demonstrates the early intestinal invasion of <it>L. intracellularis in vivo</it>.</p