Elevated dietary zinc oxide levels do not have a substantial effect on porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PPRSV) vaccination and infection

Background Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is one of the most important infectious agents for the swine industry worldwide. Zinc (Zn) salts, which are widely used as a dietary supplement in swine nutrition, have shown antiviral effects in vitro as well as in vivo. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of dietary zinc oxide supplementation on vaccination and challenge infection with PRRSV. Findings The clinical course of PRRS and the success of vaccination with an experimental inactivated vaccine were compared between animals receiving a conventional diet (50 ppm Zn, control group) and diets supplemented with Zn oxide (ZnO) at final Zn concentrations of 150 or 2,500 ppm. Pigs receiving higher dietary Zn levels showed a tendency towards higher neutralizing antibody levels after infection, while dietary Zn levels did not substantially influence the number of antiviral IFN-gamma secreting cells (IFN-gamma-SC) or percentages of blood immune cell subsets after infection. Finally, feeding higher dietary Zn levels reduced neither clinical symptoms nor viral loads. Conclusions Our results suggest that higher levels of dietary ZnO do not have the potential to stimulate or modulate systemic immune responses after vaccination and heterologous PRRSV infection to an extent that could improve the clinical and virological outcome

German General Social Survey 2002: English translation of the German "ALLBUS"-Questionnaire

Der ALLBUS-Fragebogen der Deutschen Allgemeinen Bevölkerungsumfrage 2002 umfasst über 100 Punkte zu persönlichen, sozialen und politischen Ansichten. Dabei finden die folgenden Aspekte Berücksichtigung: (1) Familie und Partnerschaft, (2) Beruf, (3) Politik, (4) soziales Verhalten und Einstellungen, (5) Identität, (6) individuelle Situation, (7) Erwartungen, (8) soziale Selbsteinschätzung, (9) soziale Ungleichheit, (10) Wohlfahrtsstaat, (11) Demokratie in Deutschland, (12) wirtschaftliche Situation in Deutschland, (13) Erziehung und Ausbildung, (14) Religiosität sowie (15) demografische Angaben der Befragten. (ICG2

Nonresponse Bias (Version 2.0)

Nonresponse is a source of error in surveys. In this contribution, the concept of nonresponse bias is explained and the connection between response rate and nonresponse bias is discussed. Moreover, different methods of determining nonresponse bias are presented and ways in which the problem of nonresponse bias can be tackled during data collection are addressed

Dietary Enterococcus faecium NCIMB 10415 and Zinc Oxide Stimulate Immune Reactions to Trivalent Influenza Vaccination in Pigs but Do Not Affect Virological Response upon Challenge Infection

Swine influenza viruses (SIV) regularly cause significant disease in pigs worldwide. Since there is no causative treatment of SIV, we tested if probiotic Enterococcus (E.) faecium NCIMB 10415 or zinc (Zn) oxide as feed supplements provide beneficial effects upon SIV infection in piglets. Seventy- two weaned piglets were fed three different diets containing either E. faecium or different levels of Zn (2500 ppm, Zn(high); 50 ppm, Zn(low)). Half of the piglets were vaccinated intramuscularly (VAC) twice with an inactivated trivalent SIV vaccine, while all piglets were then infected intranasally with H3N2 SIV. Significantly higher weekly weight gains were observed in the E. faecium group before virus infection, and piglets in Zn(high) and E. faecium groups gained weight after infection while those in the control group (Zn(low)) lost weight. Using ELISA, we found significantly higher H3N2-specific antibody levels in the E. faecium+VAC group 2 days before and at the day of challenge infection as well as at 4 and 6 days after challenge infection. Higher hemagglutination inhibition (HI) titers were also observed in the Zn(high)+VAC and E. faecium+VAC groups at 0, 1 and 4 days after infection. However, there were no significant differences in virus shedding and lung lesions between the dietary groups. Using flow cytometry analysis significantly higher activated T helper cells and cytotoxic T lymphocyte percentages in the PBMCs were detected in the Zn(high) and E. faecium groups at single time points after infection compared to the Zn(low) control group, but no prolonged effect was found. In the BAL cells no influence of dietary supplementation on immune cell percentages could be detected. Our results suggest that feeding high doses of zinc oxide and particularly E. faecium could beneficially influence humoral immune responses after vaccination and recovery from SIV infection, but not affect virus shedding and lung pathology

Fieldwork details in the European Social Survey 2002/2003

Beim European Social Survey (ESS) handelt es sich um ein im Abstand von zwei Jahren durchgeführtes, methodisch anspruchsvolles Umfrageprojekt, das 2002/2003 erstmals realisiert wurde. Die Verfasser geben zunächst einen Überblick über die Feldarbeit für diese erste Welle (Zahl der Interviews, Zahl der Interviewer, Zahl der Interviews pro Interviewer). Im Folgenden werden detaillierte Angaben zur Feldphase diskutiert, so die Anzahl der von einem Interviewer pro Tag realisierten Interviews, der Tag und die Uhrzeit des Interviews, die Dauer der Start-up-Phase bis zur Durchführung des ersten Interviews sowie die Zeitspanne vom ersten bis zum letzten von einem Interviewer durchgeführten Interview. In den genannten Aspekten treten charakteristische Unterschiede zwischen den einzelnen Ländern, in denen der ESS durchgeführt wurde, auf. Eine Korrelationsanalyse kann Zusammenhänge zwischen Details der Feldarbeit und der Dauer der Feldperiode insgesamt sowie zwischen dem Timing der Interviews und der Datenqualität (Unterrepräsentierung Erwerbstätiger) aufzeigen. (ICE

DESIGN AND EVALUATING A TOOL FOR CONTINUOUSLY ASSESSING AND IMPROVING AGILE PRACTICES FOR INCREASED ORGANIZATIONAL AGILITY

Many organizations struggle to measure, control, and manage agility in a manner of continuous improvement. Therefore, we draw on Design Science Research to develop and test a tool for Continuously Assessing and Improving Agile Practices (CAIAP). CAIAP helps agile practitioners to monitor the alignment of “as is” agile practices on individual, team levels with the overall agile strategy of the organization. To develop CAIAP, we first empirically gather requirements, draw on the ICAP framework to base the tool development on a solid conceptual and theoretical basis. CAIAP helps agile practitioners to constantly monitor their agile practices on individual and team levels and to identify areas for improvement to gain greater organizational agility. To researchers, CAIAP helps to make the unit of analysis of agile work explainable, predictable and helps researchers to guide their own empirical research as well as serve as a basis for designing further tool support

Conceptualizing the Agile Work Organization: A systematic literature review, framework and research agenda

The ongoing discussion of the Agile Work Organization (AO) in research and practice permeates a multitude of research areas. However, no clear conceptualization of the AO has been provided. In this paper, we conduct a Systematic Literature Review to investigate what constitutes and defines the AO. The SLR reveals three dimensions in the research field of the AO: Strategic, Functional and Operative Agility. These dimensions define the AO through different unique capabilities by influencing and enhancing the overall goal of the AO in adaptation and flexibility. Building up on the insights from the review, we develop proposition which describe the interrelationship between the dimensions and towards the AO. Furthermore, implications for academia and practice as well as a research agenda are provided in order to trigger and guide further discussions and research surrounding the AO