Sustainable crop production intensification in West Africa is hampered by constraints such as soil degradation, mainly due to excessive mining of soil nutrients, topsoil loss by surface runoff, and climatic factors like ...

Deforestation of tropical rainforests contributes significantly to global climate change and accelerated biodiversity loss. To mitigate these impacts, the goal of drastically reducing tropical deforestation has been a ...

Processes extending the shelf-life of climacteric fruits play an important role in increasing sustainability of global food supply. As consequence of uncontrolled ripening process, significant losses in quantity and quality ...

Mapping the environment with the purpose of building a 3D model that represents it, is traditionally achieved by trained personnel, using measuring equipment such as cameras or terrestrial laser scanners. This process is ...

Cleaning and disinfection together form an important aspect of hygiene management in livestock farming. The professional implementation of these hygiene measures can help to interrupt infection chains, prevent the spread of diseases and antibiotic-resistant bacteria and maintain a high level of animal health, animal welfare and performance. Objective hygiene indicators are needed to evaluate the success of cleaning and disinfection. Therefore, an aim of this thesis was to test different hygiene indicators from the health and food sector with regard to their suitability for use in livestock production. The focus was on visual evaluation, two different rapid tests for the measurement of protein and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) residues, microbiological contact plates, microbiological swab samples, and microbiological sock samples for the evaluation of the total aerobic count and selected target organisms. The different hygiene indicators were tested in pig fattening farms and in newborn calf rearing facilities. The evaluation showed positive correlations between the individual methods. A visual check should always be carried out prior to disinfection, independent of the use of other indicator systems. The two rapid test systems can be used for in-house training, for the self-control of commercial cleaning companies or for audits. The swab samples are superior to the contact tests for the determination of the microbiological status in livestock farming. Microbiological tests are essential for assessing the presence of specific pathogens and cannot be replaced by rapid tests. To improve hygiene management, critical points were evaluated following cleaning and disinfection in pig fattening farms, calf housing facilities and chicken fattening farms. Especially the drinking and feeding equipment was often found to be insufficiently cleaned and highly contaminated, with an average value for the total microbial count of 5.6 log₁₀ cfu ∙ cm^-2 in drinkers in fattening pig houses and 5.3 log₁₀ cfu ∙ cm^-2 in feeding troughs in fattening pig houses as well as in milk feeding buckets and artificial teats for suckling calves. After cleaning and disinfection, Pseudomonas aeruginosa was detected in the water pipes of the chicken fattening farm at all sampling points, additionally, most of them showed resistance to antibiotics. Monitoring the cleaning efficiency and careful training of staff can help to improve hygiene and reduce the spread of pathogenic and antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Special attention should be paid to critical points such as feeding and drinking equipment and pipes....
<strong>Hygienemanagement in der Nutztierhaltung : Bewertung von Hygieneindikatoren und kritischen Punkten</strong> <br> Reinigung und Desinfektion bilden zusammen eine wichtige Säule des Hygienemanagements in der Nutztierhaltung. Die fachgerechte Durchführung dieser Hygienemaßnahmen kann dabei helfen, Infektionsketten zu durchbrechen, die Ausbreitung von Krankheiten und antibiotika-resistenten Keimen zu verhindern und so eine stabile Tiergesundheit und damit auch Wohlergehen und Leistung zu ermöglichen. Für die Bewertung des Reinigungs- und Desinfektionserfolgs sind objektive Hygieneindikatoren erforderlich. Daher war es ein Ziel dieser Arbeit, verschiedene Indikatoren aus dem Gesundheits- und Lebensmittelbereich hinsichtlich ihrer Eignung zur Bewertung des Hygienestatus in der Nutztierhaltung zu testen. Im Fokus standen dabei die visuelle Begutachtung, zwei Schnelltests zur Messung von Protein- und Adenosintriphosphat-(ATP)-Rückständen, mikrobiologische Abklatschtests sowie mikrobiologische Tupfer und Sockenproben zur Bewertung der aeroben Gesamtkeimzahl und zur Detektion ausgewählter Zielorganismen. Die verschiedenen Hygieneindikatoren wurden in Schweinemastbetrieben und in der Saugkälberhaltung getestet. Bei der Auswertung zeigten sich positive Korrelationen zwischen den einzelnen Methoden. Eine visuelle Kontrolle sollte immer vor der Desinfektion erfolgen, unabhängig vom Einsatz weiterer Indikatorsysteme. Bei den beiden Schnelltestsystemen ist ein Einsatz für innerbetriebliche Schulungen, für die Selbstkontrolle von gewerblichen Reinigungsfirmen oder für Audits vorstellbar. Die Tupferproben sind zur Erfassung des mikrobiologischen Status in der Nutztierhaltung den Abklatschtests überlegen. Mikrobiologische Untersuchungen sind für die Bewertung des Vorkommens spezifischer Erreger unabdingbar und können nicht durch Schnelltests ersetzt werden. Zur Verbesserung des Hygienemanagements wurden kritische Punkte im Anschluss an die erfolgte Reinigung und Desinfektion in der Schweinemast, der Kälbereinzelhaltung und in der Hähnchenmast evaluiert. Hierbei zeigten sich besonders die Tränke- und Fütterungseinrichtungen häufig als unzureichend gereinigt und mikrobiell hoch belastet, mit einem durchschnittlichen Wert für die Gesamtkeimzahl von 5,6 log₁₀ cfu ∙ cm^-2 in Tränken in Mastschweineställen und 5,3 log₁₀ cfu ∙ cm^-2 in Trögen in Mastschweineställen sowie in Milchtränkeeimern für Saugkälber. In den Wasserleitungen des Hähnchenmastbetriebs konnten nach Reinigung und Desinfektion an allen Probenahmestellen Pseudomonas aeruginosa detektiert werden, von denen ein Großteil eine Antibiotikaresistenz aufwies. Ein Monitoring der Reinigungseffizienz und eine sorgfältige Schulung der Mitarbeiter können dabei helfen, den Hygienestatus zu verbessern und die Ausbreitung pathogener und antibiotikaresistenter Bakterien zu verringern. Hierbei sollte besonderer Wert auf kritische Punkte wie Fütterungs- und Tränkeeinrichtungen gelegt werden....

Eine effiziente Nutzung von Energie und Nährstoffen spielt nicht nur vor dem Hintergrund einer bedarfsdeckenden Versorgung der Kühe, sondern auch im Hinblick auf die Umweltwirkung und die Wirtschaftlichkeit der Milchkuhhaltung ...

Differential Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (D-InSAR) is a unique technique to detect and map deformations of the Earth's surface over large temporal and spatial scales. Processing a whole stack of multitemporal ...

The tremendous burden of malaria has led to renewed efforts focusing on malaria elimi-nation in the high burden countries. However, to achieve elimination, novel tools includ-ing driving-Y gene drive mosquitoes may be ...

Bread wheat is one of the most important crops for the human diet but the increasing soil salinization is causing yield reductions worldwide. The development of appropriate cultivars requires the elucidation of mechanisms ...

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by United Nations (UN) Member States in September 2015, aims to solve world sensitive sustainability issues through 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as focus areas. The implementation of the SDGs will depend mainly on the voluntary commitments of member states, although an integrated approach between countries, disciplines and actors is needed.<br /> This study, through comprehensive analyses, considers three important elements of the 2030 Agenda: 1) "Partnerships for the Goals"; The 2030 Agenda, stresses the importance of alliances and partnerships, as explicitly expressed in Goal 17. The collaborations of multi-stakeholder networks can be beneficial, but evaluation of their impact remains a challenge. Analyses in Chapter 2, based on the contribution of Regional Centres of Expertise for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, explore these collaborations in local, national and international scale. 2) "Indivisibility" of the 2030 Agenda, and the interconnection between the Goals; it is widely accepted that the 17 SDGs are strongly interrelated and context dependent. The implications of Target 4.7 on the 17 SDGs, in the specific context, are addressed in Chapter 3. Strongest connections amongst thematic sustainability issues are identified in order to maximise synergies and to minimise negative influences. It helps to create a ground for common indicators that can contribute simultaneously to a set of Goals, and to the 2030 Agenda as a whole. 3) The "All-inclusiveness" aspect of the 2030 Agenda where every contribution is valid. Several "collaboration channels" for Citizen Science and the Agenda 2030, such as through organized networks representations in partnerships for the goals; contribution to each of the SDGs individually; involvement in the policy cycles; and education and data provision, are explored in Chapter 4. Challenges, critical aspects and a framework of interactions from the top-down and bottom-up perspective are discussed in order to encourage a broader and more effective engagement.<br /> This study has analysed the role of diverse non-state actors and disciplines in the process of achieving the 17 SDGs. It gives an overview to what extend they are involved, based on current evidence and on clear contextual settings, and of the specific difficulties, challenges and opportunities. Findings identify considerable efforts by these actors in aligning their work with the 2030 Agenda, but additional efforts and resources are needed. Financial issues and governance bottlenecks, uneven progress between Goals and regions, weak coordination mechanisms among stakeholders, silo approaches with the Goals etc. are considered to be the major challenges for achieving the SDGs.<br /> The timeframe for the SDGs implementation has entered the "Decade of Action" until 2030. Apart from the member state commitments, the emphasis on "global", "local", and "people" would give importance to the involvement and increasing responsibilities of other actors, and contributions from all sources. New governance models at multi-levels, are needed to coordinate the SDGs and embrace the wide range of actors in the process. Global governance and regulating mechanisms at international level are necessary as national strategies will not be enough. Since networks and partnerships are dependent on their regional contexts and other circumstances, stronger cooperation with international organisations active in the SDGs implementation process would secure them a better position in the international arena. The study reinforces the idea that non-state actors can contribute outside their country contexts, at both local and international scale....