Deviant behaviour on various levels of the food supply chain may cause food risks. It entails irregular technological procedures which cause (increased probabilities of) adverse outcomes for buyers and consumers. Besides technological hazards and hitherto unknown health threats, moral hazard and malpractice in food businesses represent an additional source of risk which can be termed 'behavioural food risk'. From a regulatory perspective, adverse outcomes associated with deviance represent negative externalities that are caused by the breaking of rules designed to prevent them. From a rational choice perspective, the probability of malpractice increases with the benefits for its authors. It decreases with the probability of detection and resulting losses. It also decreases with bonds to social norms that protect producers from yielding to economic temptations. The design of mechanisms that reduce behavioural risks and prevent malpractice requires an understanding of why food businesses obey or do not obey the rules. This project aims to contribute to a better understanding of malpractice on the restaurant/retail level through comparative case studies and statistical analyses of food inspection and survey data. Accounting for the complexity of economic behaviour, we will not only look at economic incentives but consider all relevant behavioural determinants, including social context factors.
Sauerstoffverbrauch und mitochondriale Atmungsaktivitaet verschiedener Gewebe koennen als Kenngroessen des konstitutionellen Leistungsniveaus von Tieren dienen.Das Forschungsvorhaben soll Zusammenhaenge zwischen dem embryonalen Energiemetabolismus und dem Leistungsvermoegen im adulten Stadium aufzeigen. Das Interesse gilt insbesondere den Zusammenhaengen mitVitalitaet, Lege- und Mastleistung von Huehnern und Fasanen, aber auch den Beziehungen zu genetisch fixierten Verhaltensmerkmalen bei Japanischen Wachteln. Schliesslich dienen die Studien der Etablierung eines Systems zur Evaluierung der Einwirkung externer, chemischer und physikalischer Noxen toxikologischer und produktionstechnischer Natur auf den Gefluegelembryo. Die Untersuchungen werden an Bruteiern von Huehnern, Fasanen und Japanischen Wachteln durchgefuehrt. Die Erfassung des embryonalen Sauerstoffverbrauchserfolgt mit Hilfe einer eigens hierfuer entwickelten Variante der polarographischen Sauerstoffmessung mittels Clark- Zellen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen signifikante Zusammenhaenge zwischen embryonalem Sauerstoffverbrauch und den Schlupfraten, sowie den zu erwartenden Legeleistungen der adulten Tiere. Auch ein Zusammenhang mit genetisch determinierten Verhaltensmerkmalen bei Japanischen Wachteln konnte nachgewiesen werden. Moegliche Anwendungsbereiche der Methodik liegen in einer vorgezogenen und verkuerzten Leistungspruefung fuer Legehennen. Diese Moeglichkeit wird derzeit ueberprueft. Darueber hinaus laesst das System Moeglichkeiten zur Beurteilung chemisch- physikalischer Noxen und zur Optimierung von Produktionstechniken erwarten.
The basidiomycete Armillaria mellea s.l. is one of the most important root rot pathogens of forest trees and comprises several species. The aim of the project is to identify the taxa occurring inSwitzerland and to understand their ecological behaviour. Root, butt and stem rots caused by different fungi are important tree diseases responsible for significant economic losses. Armillaria spp. occur world-wide and are important components of many natural and managed forest ecosystems. Armillaria spp. are known saprothrophs as well as primary and secondary pathogens causing root and butt rot on a large number of woody plants, including forest and orchard trees as well as grape vine and ornamentals. The identification of several Armillaria species in Europe warrants research in the biology and ecology of the different species. We propose to study A. cepistipes for the following reasons. First, A. cepistipes is dominating the rhizomorph populations in most forest types in Switzerland. This widespread occurrence contrasts with the current knowledge about A. cepistipes, which is very limited. Second, because the pathogenicity of A. cepistipes is considered low this fungus has the potential for using as an antagonist to control stump colonising pathogenic fungi, such as A. ostoyae and Heterobasidion annosum. This project aims to provide a better understanding of the ecology of A. cepistipes in mountainous Norway spruce (Picea abies) forests. Special emphasis will be given to interactions of A. cepistipes with A. ostoyae, which is a very common facultative pathogen and which often co-occurs with A. cepistipes. The populations of A. cepistipes and A. ostoyae will be investigated in mountainous spruce forests were both species coexist. The fungi will be sampled from the soil, from stumps and dead wood, and from the root system of infected trees to determine the main niches occupied by the two species. Somatic incompatibility will be used to characterise the populations of each species. The knowledge of the spatial distribution of individual genets will allow us to gain insights into the mode of competition and the mode of spreading. Inoculation experiments will be used to determine the variation in virulence expression of A. cepistipes towards Norway spruce and to investigate its interactions with A. ostoyae.
Water, carbon and nitrogen are key elements in all ecosystem turnover processes and they are related to a variety of environmental problems, including eutrophication, greenhouse gas emissions or carbon sequestration. An in-depth knowledge of the interaction of water, carbon and nitrogen on the landscape scale is required to improve land use and management while at the same time mitigating environmental impact. This is even more important under the light of future climate and land use changes.In the frame of the proposal 'Uncertainty of predicted hydro-biogeochemical fluxes and trace gas emissions on the landscape scale under climate and land use change' we advocate the development of fully coupled, process-oriented models that explicitly simulate the dynamic interaction of water, carbon and nitrogen turnover processes on the landscape scale. We will use the Catchment Modelling Framework CMF, a modular toolbox to implement and test hypothesis of hydrologic behaviour and couple this to the biogeochemical LandscapeDNDC model, a process-based dynamic model for the simulation of greenhouse gas emissions from soils and their associated turnover processes.Due to the intrinsic complexity of the models in use, the predictive uncertainty of the coupled models is unknown. This predictive (global) uncertainty is composed of stochastic and structural components. Stochastic uncertainty results from errors in parameter estimation, poorly known initial states of the model, mismatching boundary conditions or inaccuracies in model input and validation data. Structural uncertainty is related to the flawed or simplified description of natural processes in a model.The objective of this proposal is therefore to quantify the global uncertainty of the coupled hydro-biogeochemical models and investigate the uncertainty chain from parameter uncertainty over forcing data uncertainty up the structural model uncertainty be setting up different combinations of CMF and LandscapeDNDC. A comprehensive work program has been developed structured in 4 work packages, that consist of (1) model set up, calibration and uncertainty assessment on site scale followed by (2) an application and uncertainty assessment of the coupled model structures on regional scale, (3) global change scenario analyses and finally (4) evaluating model results in an ensemble fashion.Last but not least, a further motivation of this proposal is to provide project results in a manner that they support planning and decision taking under uncertainty, as this proposal is part of the package proposal on 'Methodologies for dealing with uncertainties in landscape planning and related modelling'.
Periods of extreme geomagnetic change such as geomagnetic excursions have frequently occurred throughout geological time. Characterizing their behaviour is essential for a full understanding of the geodynamo and the interaction of Earths magnetic field and the space environment. We propose to model the global behaviour of Earths magnetic field between 10 and 50 ka using palaeomagnetic data. During this time the geomagnetic field showed significant variability in direction and intensity, including two well documented excursions: Laschamp and Mono Lake. No model currently exists that spans the total length of this time period, yet this period could provide great insights into the geodynamo. The ultimate goal of the project is to synthesize the results from our empirical modelling with those from numerical dynamo simulations, so that a deeper physical understanding of geodynamo processes can be gained. We will compile all sedimentary and volcanic palaeomagnetic data coupled with geochronological data spanning this period. This data will be added to a community available database along with all rock magnetic and sedimentological metadata. This will allow a detailed assessment of the data used in the modelling. Low quality palaeomagnetic data and erroneous age models may distort geomagnetic field structures generated by our new model and it is a key objective of this study to assess the fidelity of the palaeomagnetic and chronological data included in the modeling. Using this data we will construct a temporally continuous global spherical harmonic geomagnetic field model through a regularized least squares inversion of the data using spherical harmonics in space and cubic B splines in time. This model will enable assessment of the geomagnetic at the core-mantle boundary, the Earths surface and at elevated altitudes. Our key scientific objective is to determine where excursions fit into the spectrum of geomagnetic field variations and how the geodynamo processes that generate excursions differ from those that produce secular variation and reversals.
Das Verkehrsverhalten ist in erster Linie geformt von frühen Erfahrungen mit Mobilität. Diese erlernten Praktiken halten sich hartnäckig und sind nicht einfach zu ändern. Gleichzeitig wird die Verkehrspolitik oftmals dafür kritisiert, dass stark mit Verboten gearbeitet wird. Zusätzlich zeigen aber Erfahrungen aus dem Ausland, dass auch finanzielle und immaterielle Anreize bzw. Belohnungssysteme potenziell den Umstieg auf den Umweltverbund, die Reduzierung des motorisierten Individualverkehrs sowie die höhere Fahrzeugauslastung durch das Bilden von Fahrgemeinschaften fördern können. Wie monetäre oder immaterielle Belohnungssysteme in Deutschland auf unterschiedlichen Ebenen aussehen könnten, für welche Nutzergruppen sie sich besonders eignen und welche verkehrlichen Effekte und damit Einsparpotenziale erzielt werden können, sollen in diesem Vorhaben mit Hilfe einer umfangreichen Literaturrecherche, Experteninterviews, Modellierungen sowie (internationalen) Falluntersuchungen herausgearbeitet werden. Dies ist insbesondere vor dem Hintergrund interessant, dass derzeit hier eine Forschungslücke für den deutschen Kontext identifiziert wurde. Die so gewonnenen Erkenntnisse zu Aufbau, Funktion und Umsetzung von finanziellen und immateriellen Anreizen im Verkehr sollen im Anschluss in einem Reallabor auf Quartiersebene pilotiert und in der Praxis ausprobiert getestet. Im Vorhaben gewonnene Erkenntnisse sollen öffentlichkeitswirksam kommuniziert und praxisnah zusammengefasst und aufbereitet werden, um sicherzustellen, dass relevante Entscheidungsträger*innen auf unterschiedlichen Ebenen erreicht werden.
Objective: Integrated assessment and energy-economy models have become central tools for informing long-term global and regional climate mitigation strategies. There is a large demand for improved representations of complex system interactions and thorough validation of model behaviour in order to increase user confidence in climate policy assessments. ADVANCE aims to respond to this demand by facilitating the development of a new generation of integrated assessment models. This will be achieved by substantial progress in key areas where model improvements are greatly needed: end use and energy service demand; representation of heterogeneity, behaviour, innovation and consumer choices; technical change and uncertainty; system integration, path dependencies and resource constraints; and economic impacts of mitigation policies. In the past, methodological innovations and improvements were hindered by the unavailability of suitable input data. The ADVANCE project will make a large and coordinated effort to generate relevant datasets. These datasets, along with newly developed methodologies, will be made available to the broader scientific community as open-access resources. ADVANCE will also put a focus on improved model transparency, model validation, and data handling. A central objective of ADVANCE is to evaluate and to improve the suitability of models for climate policy impact assessments. The improved models will be applied to an assessment of long-term EU climate policy in a global context, and disseminated to the wider community. The ADVANCE consortium brings together long-standing expertise in integrated assessment and energy-economy modelling with a strong expertise in material flows, energy system integration, and energy service demand.
Durch das Projekt 'Visible Science' möchten die Konsortialpartners eine Synthese schaffen zwischen verhaltensbiologischer Grundlagenforschung und den wirtschaftlichen Interessen der Konrad Lorenz Forschungsstelle (eine Core facility der Universität Wien) und des Cumberland Wildparks in Grünau im Almtal, Oberösterreich (Naturtierpark Grünau GmbH). Durch aktives Einbeziehen von BesucherInnen/Laien in die Forschung im Sinne der modernen Kriterien von 'Citizen Science' und mittels innovativen Techniken (Apps, Touch Screens, Monitoring am Nest), sowie durch eine öffentlichkeitstaugliche und - wirksame Präsentation, werden sowohl die Forschung, und dadurch auch der Naturtierpark qualitativ hochwertig inszeniert und österreichweit als Alleinstellungsmerkmal (USP) entstehen. Im beantragten Projekt ist geplant, die Brut, Aufzucht und Betreuung von Jungtieren bei drei Modell-Vogelarten (Graugänsen, Raben und Waldrappen) mittels eines vergleichenden Ansatzes zu untersuchen. Die drei Arten eignen sich perfekt für ein derartiges Vorhaben aufgrund ihrer Verfügbarkeit und Zugänglichkeit im Studiengebiet (Grünau im Almtal, OÖ), sowie des Interesses, welches ihnen die Öffentlichkeit entgegenbringt. Die Individuen sind zudem individuell markiert, was eine einfache Erkennung der Einzeltiere im Feld nach den Kriterien von 'Citizen Science', auch für Laien erlaubt. In der Tat folgen Überleben und Fortpflanzungserfolg von Menschen und Tieren ähnlichen Prinzipien. Diese Gemeinsamkeiten sind nicht nur per se interessant, sondern schaffen Verständnis und Bereitschaft für verantwortliches Handeln und nachhaltiges Wirtschaften. Die weltweit einmalige Situation im Almtal ermöglicht Grundlagenforschung im direkten Zusammenspiel mit einem wirtschaftlichen Betrieb und unter der Einbindung einer breiten Öffentlichkeit. Das allgemeine Ziel-Ergebnis des beantragten Projektes ist die Entwicklung eines langfristigen Modells für Forschung und innovative Bürgerwissenschaft in Zusammenarbeit mit einem wirtschaftlichen Betrieb. Dazu sind beide Konsortialpartner bereit, ihre traditionellen Handlungsgebiete zu verändern und aneinander anzupassen.
Objective: The project will examine the health impacts of greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction policies in urban settings in Europe, China and India, using case studies of 3-4 large urban centres and three smaller urban centres. Sets of realistic interventions will be proposed, tailored to local needs, to meet published abatement goals for GHG Emissions for 2020, 2030 and 2050. Mitigation actions will be defined in four main sectors: power generation/industry, household energy, transport and food and agriculture. The chief pathways by which such measures influence health will be described, and models developed to quantify changes in health-related 'exposures' and health behaviours. Models will include ones relating to outdoor air pollution, indoor air quality and temperature, physical activity, dietary intake, road injury risks and selected other exposures. Integrated quantitative models of health impacts will be based on life table methods encompassing both mortality and morbidity outcomes modelled over 20 year time horizons. Where possible, exposure-response relationships will be based on review evidence published by the Comparative Risk Assessment initiative or systematic reviews. Uncertainties in model estimates will be characterized using a mathematical framework to quantify the influence of uncertainties in both model structure and parameter estimates. Particular attention will be given to economic assessments, both in terms of behavioural choices/uptake of various forms of mitigation measure (with new surveys to address evidence gaps), and in terms of health benefits and costs calculated from societal, health service and household perspectives. A decision analysis framework will be developed to compare different mitigation options. Experts and user groups will be consulted to define the mitigation questions to be examined, and the results will be discussed in consultative workshops scheduled for the final months of the project.
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