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Long-term antibiotic-free preservation of rainbow trout milt (oncorhynchus mykiss). 7. International Workshop on the Biology of Fish Gametes

BACKGROUND: When cases of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church became known, the German Bishops’ Conference (Deutsche Bischofskonferenz, DBK) commissioned a study by an interdisciplinary consortium to determine the frequency of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy in Germany (the MHG study). METHODS: Qualitative and quantitative research methods were used and the subject matter of the study was analyzed in seven component projects. To determine the frequency of sexual abuse, 38 156 personnel files of Catholic clergy from the period 1946 to 2014 were studied, and the epidemiologic findings of these evaluations are presented. RESULTS: 1670 persons belonging to the Catholic clergy who were accused of sexual abuse of minors were identified from their personnel files, corresponding to 4.4% of the clergy overall. 3677 victims of sexual abuse could be linked to the accused persons; 62.8% of them were male, and 66.7% were under 14 years old when the abuse took place. The mean duration of the abuse in individual cases was 1.3 years. “Hands-on” abuses (i.e., abuses involving bodily contact) occurred in more than 80% of cases. Many of the affected persons suffered serious consequences for their health and social functioning. The ones most commonly reported were anxiety, depression, mistrust, sexual problems, and difficulties with interpersonal contact. CONCLUSION: The figures reported here should be considered a lower bound to the actual frequency of sexual abuse. Asymmetrical power relationships in a closed system such as the Catholic Church can facilitate sexual abuse. Physicians play an important role in the diagnosis and treatment of the victims of sexual abuse, in the diagnosis and treatment of persons inclined to commit abuses and actual abusers, and in the development and implementation of preventive strategies.

The middle initial of the third author is missing. The third author’s complete name is: Ayman W. El-Hattab. The correct citation is: Sadikovic B, Wang J, El-Hattab AW, Landsverk M, Douglas G, Brundage EK, et al. (2010) Sequence Homology at the Breakpoint and Clinical Phenotype of Mitochondrial DNA Deletion Syndromes. PLoS ONE 5(12): e15687. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0015687.

International audience

This dissertation will focus on investigating and improving techniques used in the statistical process control field, and particular with regards to control charts, as they pertain to the control of systems which display autocorrelation, non-stationarity, and exhibit outlier and missing measurements. Control chart approaches which will initially be considered are Dynamic PCA/PLS, MovingWindow PCA/PLS, and Recursive PCA/PLS. Each of these approaches attempts to extend the static control chart model so that it may be applied in a setting with time series dynamics. As of yet, no comprehensive overview of the methods and their extensions has been performed to evaluate their relative performance. Furthermore, in all cases, additional innovations are needed before these methods display the straightforward applicability of static control charts. Therefore, (1) examining the characteristics of the various approaches discussed in the literature, and (2) providing innovative extensions which yield stable and easy to use methods will form two primary research objectives. status: published

National audience; The addition of antibiotics, either alone or in cocktail mixtures, represents today the only way to control bacterial growth during swine semen production and conservation. In general, raw ejaculates are handed at 30-34 °C while delivering and storage of AI doses occur at temperatures around 16-17 °C. However, the risk of inducing bacterial resistance represents a great challenge to overcome. During this study, we set to develop an antibiotic free semen processing technique that at the same time allows for maintenance of sperm quality and does not affect the fertility performance of swine herds. Ejaculates collected from boars of proven fertility were split in two portions and diluted in two different semen extenders. One portion was diluted in a commercial semen extender supplemented with a classical antibiotic mixture and packed in standard semen bags. The second portion was diluted in a new semen extender with no antibiotic addition and packed in bacteriostatic semen bags. Doses were cooled down up to 4°C after packing and kept in a regigerator until inseminations were performed. Computed assisted semen analysis and flow cytometry analysis were carried for evaluating motility, viability and bacterial charge. Further, sixty gilts (n=60) of the cross breed Large-White x Landrace were selected and aleatory grouped. For heat synchronization, eighteen doses of Regumate (20mg) were given daily to the experimental animals. Only gilts found in heat after the synchronization were included in the study. A total of 30 gilts were inseminated with semen doses supplemented with antibiotics and the other 30 with semen doses without antibiotics. Twenty two days after insemination, pregnancy was checked by transabdominal echography, and pregnant gilts were slaughtered for controlling embryo development and number of corpora lutea present in the ovaries at day 30 post insemination. Neither number of embryos, nor ovulation rates (controlled by the number of corpora lutea formed after ovulation) were affected by the antibiotic free AI doses. These results show that antibiotics are no longer necessary for preservation of boar ejaculates as long as minimal hygienic conditions are kept during semen processing.

International audience; This study comprises 3 experiments exploring the possible benefits and mechanism of action of liposomes for chilling (4 degrees C) canine sperm over a period of 4 days. In the first experiment, 20 ejaculates collected from 5 Beagle dogs were chilled in an extender containing 6% low density lipoproteins (LDL) (Control), or one of 7 extenders containing different concentrations (2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 15, 20%) of liposomes (LIPO). These ejaculates were chilled over 4 days and motility was assessed daily using a Hamilton Thorne analyzer (HTM-IVOS, 14.0). The 2% LIPO obtained the best results (p = 0.038) after four days (72.55% motile spermatozoa and 31.4% progressive spermatozoa). In experiment 2, 10 ejaculates were collected from same 5 dogs and chilled in 6% LDL or 2% LIPO-based extenders. Sperm integrity characteristics were assessed prior to refrigeration and every 48 h for four days (DO, D2, and D4). Acrosome integrity was assessed using the FITC-PSA test (Fluorescein IsoThiocyanate-Pisum Sativum Agglutinin), plasma membrane (PM) integrity using both the hypo-osmotic swelling test (HOSt) and SYBR14/Propidium Iodide test (SYBR14/130, and DNA integrity using the Acridine-Orange test (AO). The 2% LIPO extender provided equivalent preservation of sperm integrity parameters to the reference extender (6% LDL). In experiment 3, a Langmuir-Blodgett trough was used to evaluate the mechanistic interactions between LDL, LIPO, prostatic fluid, and the canine spermatozoal membrane during chilling. Results indicate that LDL and LIPO interact differently with the biomimetic membrane. The most likely conclusion of these findings is that LDL and liposomes employ different protective mechanisms during the chilling (4 degrees C) of canine spermatozoa.

California is challenged by its worst drought in 600 years and faces future water uncertainty. Pioneering new data infrastructure to integrate water use data across California's more than a thousand water providers will support water managers in ensuring water reliability. The California Data Collaborative is a coalition of municipal water utilities serving ten percent of California's population who are delivering on that promise by centralizing customer water use data in a recently completed pilot project. This project overview describes tools that have shown promising early results in improving water efficiency programs and optimizing system operations. Longer term, these tools will help navigate future uncertainty and support water managers in ensuring water reliability no matter what the future holds. The uniquely publicly-owned data infrastructure deployed in this project is envisioned to enable the world's first "marketplace of civic analytics" to power the volume of water efficiency measurements water managers require at a radically more cost effective price. More broadly, this data-utility approach is adaptable to domains other than water and shows specific potential for the broader universe of natural resources., Comment: Presented at the Data For Good Exchange 2016

nrpages: 11 status: published

Alte Menschen begreifen sich als aktiver Teil der Gesellschaft und wollen entsprechend wahrgenommen werden. Welche Rahmenbedingungen aber sind notwendig, um das eigene Leben auch im hohen Alter selbstverantwortlich gestalten zu können? Heidelberger Alternsforscher beschäftigen sich intensiv mit diesen Fragen und diskutieren die Implikationen ihrer Ergebnisse für eine zukunftsorientierte Altenpolitik., Ruperto Carola, Nr. 5 (2014): Draußen & Drinnen, Beginn und Erscheinungsfrequenz: Nummer: 1, Jahr: 2012, Ausgaben pro Band: 2

The Projection Congruent Subset (PCS) is new method for finding multivariate outliers. PCS returns an outlyingness index which can be used to construct affine equivariant estimates of multivariate location and scatter. In this note, we derive the finite sample breakdown point of these estimators., Comment: 14 pages, 2 figures

Zusammenfassung Aus der theoretischen Perspektive des vorliegenden Beitrags sollten sich Analysen zur psychologischen Situation oder zu Formen der Auseinandersetzung mit Belastungen bei Uberlebenden des Holocaust nicht auf die Frage, inwieweit die diagnostischen Kriterien fur das Vorliegen spezifischer psychischer Storungsbilder als erfullt gelten konnen, beschranken. Wie sich Holocaust-Uberlebende mit traumatischen Erinnerungen auseinandersetzen, wird als menschliches Verhalten konzeptualisiert, das Kompetenzen und Ressourcen ebenso reflektiert wie Moglichkeiten und Grenzen erfolgreicher Anpassung, die auf dem Hintergrund einer lebenslangen Entwicklung sowie einer gegebenen sozialen Position zur Verfugung stehen. Auf der Basis einer Clusteranalyse werden funf Formen der Auseinandersetzung unterschieden. Die meisten Uberlebenden der nationalsozialistischen Vernichtungslager lassen sich Auseinandersetzungsformen zuordnen, die die Aufrechterhaltung oder Wiederherstellung einer personlich zufriedenstellenden...

The Residual Congruent Subset (RCS) is a new method for finding outliers in the linear regression setting. Like many other outlier detection procedures, RCS searches for a subset which minimizes a criterion. The difference is that the new criterion was designed to be insensitive to the outliers. RCS is supported by FastRCS, a fast regression and affine equivariant algorithm which we also detail. Both an extensive simulation study and two real data applications show that FastRCS performs better than its competitors., 23 pages, 10 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1301.2053

status: published

Ongulates are born agammaglobulinaemic; their survival depends on the passive transfer of maternal immunoglobulins (IgG1) by colostrum ingestion. Currently, there is still 10 to 12 % of neonatal mortality, half is a the consequence of the failure in IgG1 absorption through the immature gut. During the 24 first hours the gut is able to transfer a wide proportion of native IgG1 by micropinocytosis. This transport should be enhanced by molecules present in the aqueous phase of the colostrum (serocolostrum). Hence, four serocolostrums, were produced by membrane fractionation with modification in soluble molecules composition except for IgG1 concentration. They were expected to contain factors enhancer of the IgG1 intestinal absorption in order to be used as a colostrum replacer for foals and calves. Two serocolostrums were freeze-dried to be used in addition to whole and skimmed milk (foals and calves) or to IgG1 deficient equine colostrum (DEC, foals). Animals were fed in the 7 first hours after birth with 4.1 g of IgG1/kg body weight. Control groups received equine (foals) or bovine (calves) colostrum by tube feeding. Serum samples were taken versus time and serum concentration in equine and bovine IgG1 was measured by single radial immunodiffusion. The half life and the absorption coefficient (AC) of the IgG1 were calculated. The maximal IgG1 concentration in animals’ serum was systematically at 18 hours after feeding. Regardless the composition of the serocolostrums, when given as a substitute, it was observed exactly the same failure in IgG1 absorption with an IgG1 serum concentration 2.4 times (~ 8 gkg-1, AC = 16±5 %) and 3.5 times (~ 5 gkg-1, AC = 25±7 %) lower in calves and foals respectively, when compared to the control groups. When serocolostrum was mixed with whole or skimmed bovine milk, IgG1 serum concentration was only increased by ~1.5-1.8 for both species. When It was mixed to the DEC, the bovine IgG1 concentration in foal serum was increased by 3 ([IgG1] ~15 gkg-1 (AC = 45±5 %). Hence, it seems that molecular fractions (caseins and/or fat) present in colostrum but lacking in serocolostrum are involved in IgG absorption either by transfer activation or by avoiding a transfer limitation. Additional experiments are ongoing to test this assumption. The identification of these factors should permit to better understand the cellular mechanism of absorption in immature enterocytes. Our results also showed that bovine serocolostrum was efficient enough to compensate the failure in passive immunization in calves and foals even if the half time of bovine IgG1 is reduced in foals.

We elucidate the significance of active ageing from an individual as well as from a societal perspective. Taking an individual perspective, maintaining activity in later years is linked to successful ageing because of empirical relationships to positive self-perception, satisfaction with life, and development of competences, whereas from a societal perspective, active ageing implies usage of older people’s life competences as a human capital of society—a societal imperative, particularly in times of demographic change but also more basically substantiated in an ethics of responsibility, intergenerational solidarity, and generation equity. We focus on the psychological construct of generativity which is interpreted as an aspect of the philosophical-anthropological category of joint responsibility. Our own research in Mexico and the Baltic States supports the notion that maintaining access to the public sphere and active engagement for others is a more basic individual concern than a life-stages specific developmental task. We report background and results of a Dialogue Forum Project Funding, a research cooperation between our institute and the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility, and Future aimed to improve generativity in Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine by implementing and supporting local initiatives offering opportunities for intergenerational dialogue.

ZEP : Zeitschrift für internationale Bildungsforschung und Entwicklungspädagogik 35 (2012) 1, S. 9-14, Der Beitrag behandelt - ausgehend von den Beiträgen Karl Mannheims und Mathilda Rileys zum Verständnis des Zusammenhangs zwischen Generationenfolge, individueller und gesellschaftlicher Entwicklung - das kulturelle und individuelle Potenzial des Generationendialogs. Der Generationendialog wird als eine bedeutende Komponente von Bildungsangeboten betrachtet. Eine anthropologische Kategorie - Mitverantwortung - sowie zwei psychologische Konstrukte - Identität und Generativität - bilden die theoretische Rahmung einzelner Projekte zur wechselseitigen Sicht von Generationen wie auch zum Generationendialog, die berichtet werden. Es wird auf Grundlage empirischer Daten aufgezeigt, wie auch in Ländern, die in den letzten zwei Jahrzehnten politische und kulturelle Umbrüche erfahren haben, der Generationendialog zum wachsenden Verständnis der Generationen untereinander sowie zur Differenzierung von nationaler und kultureller Identität beitragen kann. (DIPF/Orig.), Starting from Karl Mannheim and Mathilda Riley's understanding of the relation between succession of generations, individual and societal development, the paper focuses on the cultural and individual potential of intergenerational dialog as an important component of education. The anthropological category of co-responsibility and the two psychological constructs of identity and generativity are used as the theoretical framework for intergenerational projects being reported. Based on empirical data it will be shown how intergenerational dialog might contribute to a growing mutual understanding between generations and the differentiation of national and cultural identity even in countries which experienced political and cultural upheavals in the last two decades. (DIPF/Orig.)

The failure in passive transfer of maternal antibodies present in colostrum leads to a rate of mortality close to 10 to 12% by current infections. One of the main reasons responsible for this failure is the lack of good immunological quality colostrum with high immunoglobulin (IgG) concentrations. In this work, three different bovine serocolostrums with high immunoglobulin concentrations were given to foals, either in substitute or in association with an equine colostrum with low immunoglobulin levels, during the 7 hours after foaling. The bovine and equine IgG levels in serum were followed, the IgG absorption coefficient and the half-time of IgG were calculated and the animal diseases were followed. Only one bovine serocolostrum allowed to get an IgG level in foal serums higher than 8 gkh-1 at 24 hours old with an IgG concentrations in serum of 12 to 16 gkg-1. A specific peptidic fraction of this serocolostrum could play a role in the IgG transfer through the immature intestinal epithelium. The bovine serocolostrum does not avoid specific infections with Rhodococcus equi but these infections have been absolutely recovered by adapted antibiotic treatment. The half time of bovine IgG (4-5 days) is shorter than the equine ones (24 days) but the fast decrease in bovine IgG seems partially being compensated by the earlier endogeneous production of the foals. This study showed that the bovine serocolostrum given in association with a poor equine colostrum could be able to limit the failure in passive transfer.

The objective of this randomized study was to evaluate the efficacy of ceftiofur hydrochloride (Excenel® RTU) administered subcutaneously at the daily dose of 1.0 mg ceftiofur equivalents (CE)/kg body weight (BW) (0.45 mg/lb) for five days for the treatment of acute puerperal metritis in cows in Europe. This treatment was compared to a control of oxytetracycline hydrochloride administered intramuscularly at the daily dose of 10 mg/kg body weight (4.5 mg/lb) for five days, an antibiotic registered for treatment of metritis in Europe., American Association of Bovine Practitioners Proceedings of the Annual Conference, 2001