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Feasibility assessment of artificially LED lighted plant factories in Germany
No full textTheoretical literature review study going through the market and the industry status of artificially LED lighted plant factories in Germany. The aim of the study is to assess the feasibility, defining the challenges and opportunities of the industry while comparing it with the status of the industry in the countries that the PFAL industry status is advanced in. The study is trying to figure out the drivers behind this development in each country in addition to trying to find an answer why Germany doesn‟t have the same development and giving recommendations for the stallholders and decision makers. The study goes through, the market for status for the products, the current stallholders in the industry, the consumer behavior and the main cost components. It was found that the drivers of the industry in each country are variable. The market potential of the industry products do present in Germany. The comparison of some of the main cost components results showed that Germany have strength in warehousing and logistics costs components while Germany position in Energy and taxation costs were a weak points and the labor costs status were neutral, almost the same as the pioneer countries. The recommendations for the development requires more influence to be played from the Government, modification of the tax system and energy tariff, the establishment of educational institutes models and co operation with multinational German corporates
Operational Effectiveness of Means Reducing Food Losses and Waste in Food Retail
No full textAround the globe, high quantities of produced food do not meet their initial purpose of nourishing humans. Food losses and waste occur throughout food supply chains for various reasons, resulting in unsustainable economic, social and environmental behaviour. Several actors in the supply chain have responsibility to transfer food products from farm to fork, whereas each of them holds potential to reduce food losses and waste. Compared to other actors in the chain, retailers are in the exceptional position of selling items to consumers, commonly offering a huge variety of products. Retailers have power in the chain and are therefore seen as a promising stage where “means” tackling food losses and waste can be implemented. Besides the quantities that can be mitigated by the implementation of means, the adoption of these must be realistic in practice, too (i.e. practical feasibility). Together, the quantities mitigated and the practical feasibility are the determinants of the “operational effectiveness”. Hence, the research objective is to analyse the operational effectiveness of means that can be applied by food retailers to reduce food losses and waste. The objective has been addressed by analysing ten individual means through a literature review, namely (1) improved forecasting, (2) lower order quantities, (3) avoiding rejections, (4) technologies enabling improved shelf life, (5) selling loose products, (6) price-reducing strategies, (7) reducing promotions, (8) alternative distribution pathways, (9) offering a reduced product range and (10) consumer education. Six means showed to “highly” mitigate food losses and waste, whereby five of these exhibit either a “low” or “inconclusive” practical feasibility. Alternative distribution pathways as well as price-reducingstrategies are frequently applied means by retailers and hold a “moderate” practical feasibility. Yet, the evaluation of means related to the use of packaging was mainly inconclusive, which can to some extent be explained by the lacking evidence and disagreements in previous research. Means like reducing promotions or offering a reduced product range appear to reduce food losses and waste, but stand in conflict with the marketing strategy of retailers and offer only a low practical feasibility. The same holds true for avoiding rejections. In that case, although retail standards are higher than required, these could also mitigate a transfer of waste. One of the key findings is that consumer education occurred to hold great future potential, because it showed to indirectly influence other means considered in this thesis, i.e. consumer understanding and acceptance are crucial for various means. Research concentrating on means tackling food losses and waste is limited, especially with focus on studies examining the (potential) impacts on retailing and suggests considerable research backlog
Rhizosphere and endophytic colonization of cover crops by entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium brunneum
No full textSpecies of the entomopathogenic fungal genus Metarhizium (Ascomycota: Hypocreales) are pathogenic to many arthropods, a trait that is utilized in agricultural pest control. Next to their pathogenic lifestyle, many Metarhizium species show plant root association. Due to the potential to improve efficiency in pest management by increasing abundance and persistence in the soil, and positively influence plant development by facilitating nutrient uptake as well as biotic and abiotic stress tolerance (e.g., droughts and diseases), interactions of EPF with plant roots represent valuable characteristics. EPF species Metarhizium brunneum is known for its virulence against wireworms, a major insect pest for example in potato farming, and has shown its root associating abilities before. To investigate its potential in cover crop applications, a recent approach to improve field efficiency in wireworm control, this experiment studied its root associations with seven different cover crop species. In a greenhouse pot trial, one-week-old seedlings were inoculated with M. brunneum isolate Cb 15-ǀǀǀ followed by bulk soil, rhizosphere, and root sampling 8 weeks later, and plating them onto semi selective nutrient agar. Bulk soil and rhizosphere populations were assessed by CFU counting while endophytic root colonization was determined by identification of colonies growing from root cut surfaces.
Rhizosphere populations were on average 54 % higher than bulk soil ii populations, indicating a substantial root association. Endophytic root colonization was observed with 4 out of 7 species. Amongst them were the two Brassicaceae species Raphanus sativus and Sinapis alba as well as grass species Lolium multiflorum which showed the overall highest root associations with M. brunneum. Rhizosphere populations of S. alba were noticeably lower than for all other species while still showing one of the highest internal root colonization rates which potentially originates from species-specific allelochemicals in the rhizosphere. There was a significant negative correlation between Metarhizium populations in the bulk soil and endophytic root colonization, which was interpreted with care considering some analytical constraints. Results from this experiment give insight into root associations of M. brunneum with cover crops and suggest suitable species for further investigation. Deeper understanding of complex interactions which influence plant-fungus relationships (e.g., competition with other soil microbes or the impact of agricultural practices), could improve the efficiency of corresponding products and facilitate additional applications and benefits (e.g. improved nutrient uptake and disease resistance) by utilizing EPF root associations
Healthy additions in dairy milk: A systematic literature review
No full textDairy makes up a significant part of the diet as most individuals tend to include milk in their meals. Several studies have revealed that some of the health challenges experienced by humans are a result of some of the additives added to some of their foods. Various kinds of additions can be done in milk that is healthy to increase the consumption among the population or increase the nutrition value of milk. Such additions include flavours, vitamins, and minerals, chocolate, spices, and herbs, as well as fortification of milk products, etc. In the case of preservatives, potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate are added to milk which helps in inhibiting the growth of micro-organisms, preserves the freshness of milk, and prevents spoilage. Also, the concept of lactose-free dairy products is explained widely. Lactose is often present in almost all our dairy products, making it a challenge to those who suffer from lactose intolerance. The process of production of lactosefree milk is explained, which allows people to obtain the nutrients they need from food without compromising their health. The benefits of some of the additives of dairy products are determined methods of killing pathogens in milk also come into play in the research. This includes sterilization of milk which is a high treatment process that uses high temperature to get rid of pathogens. The study also explains the implications that come with the development of aroma and flavour in dairy products, the process of fortification of milk is also explained as a healthy addition to milk. Overall, this review paper shed light on the healthy additions in milk. The research also explores the effectiveness of the market trend of such additions in milk.
Keywords: “Lactose free Milk”, “Healthy additions”, “Healthy benefits and Milk”, “Herbs and spices in Milk”, “Milk products”, “Milk market and Germany”, “Healthy addition or Chocolates”, “Turmeric milk”, “Cloves milk”, “Chocolate milk and milk products”, “Fortified milk and additions”, “Probiotics in milk”
Lächeln bis zum Umfallen – Emotionen und Emotionsmanagement in Studium und Beruf - Konzept
No full textBei der Arbeit erleben wir eine Vielzahl von verschiedenen Gefühlen, die wir jedoch nicht immer frei zeigen können. In vielen Situationen müssen wir unsere Emotionen regulieren, weil nicht alle Gefühle vom Arbeitgeber gleichermaßen erwünscht sind. Dieser Teil der Arbeit wird oft zusätzlich zur eigentlichen sachlichen Arbeit verrichtet und in der Literatur als Emotionsarbeit bezeichnet (Hochschild, 1983; Zapf et al., 2021). Viele Studien weisen Zusammenhänge auf zwischen emotionaler Arbeit und schlechterem psychischen und körperlichen Wohlbefinden auf (Hülsheger & Schewe, 2011). Daher ist es essentiell einen guten Umgang mit Emotionsarbeit zu finden und Studierenden/Arbeitnehmern die Relevanz und mögliche Schutzfaktoren gegen Überforderung durch ein zu hohes Maß von Emotionsregulation aufzuzeigen
The fungal endophyte Metarhizium brunneum: Possible multifunctional plant promoter in sustainable agriculture
No full textThe overuse of mineral fertilizers and chemical pesticides in the world's agricultural sectors continues to be exorbitant, and is associated with a number of serious consequences for the entire complex environment. The reasons for this include the steadily growing world population and the accompanying degradation of the soil. As an alternative to chemical agents, biological plant protection/strengthening stimulants based on effective microorganisms have become established in the last decades. Research in recent years has focused on entomopathogenic fungal endophytes. The fungal endophyte Metarhizium brunneum, has long been proving its value as a mycoinsecticide in crop protection and there are indications of various plant-strengthening properties. The aim of this thesis is therefore to provide an overview of the current state of knowledge about the endophyte M. brunneum and at the same time, based on the literature, to discuss its potential as an alternative multifunctional plant promoter for sustainable agriculture. A literature research method was used to conduct a quantitative analysis of the existing knowledge on M. brunneum.
The information and data collected as a result were systematically categorized and presented. The analysis has shown that the generalist M. brunneum covers a wide host range, has the ability to transfer nutrients in exchange, activates or produces plant hormones, compensates for stressors, and has many possibilities for detection and commercialization. The discussion of these results has led to the evidence that the endophyte can indeed be used as a plant growth promoter. The work also points to gaps in knowledge in several areas and emphasizes that further studies are needed
Validation and optimization of mathematical predictive models for the identification of microorganisms using Raman-spectroscopy
No full textThe identification and classification of microorganisms remains a challenge in many areas, especially considering time and cost-efficiency. Fast, reliable and cheap methods are of great interest for research, industry and health care. Raman spectroscopy is a method that fulfills these criteria and, in this work, we aim to show its effectiveness to classify a selection of microorganisms. Using a standardized protocol, eighteen microorganisms were measured using Raman spectroscopy and classified with several types of mathematical classification models, including linear discriminant analysis, support vector machines and convolutional neural networks. To prepare the measured spectral data for classification several steps for the data evaluation and transformation were applied and their effectiveness for removing noise and other interferences evaluated. The resulting predictions outcomes were compared to select the most efficient model, showing that with an overall true positive prediction rate of 86.87 % the convolutional neural network performed the best. Further inspection of the results shows issues with the measurements of selected organisms, indicating that an improved measurement protocol is required to achieve proper predictions. Overall this work shows that Raman spectroscopy in combination with mathematical classification models is a viable and fast method for classification of microorganisms
Dark Patterns in Videospielen – Unterschiede zwischen Casual-, Core- und Hardcore-Gamern
No full textGaming has become a huge industry. In an attempt to generate more revenue, manipulative design decisions, aimed towards making the consumer act in certain ways or perform certain actions, which are beneficial to the developers of the game, have become a common sight. Those design decisions have become known under the umbrella term “Dark Patterns”. While individual Dark Patterns have already been researched on their impact on gamers as a whole, it stands to reason that groups with widely different gaming behaviors would exhibit differences in their exposure and vulnerability towards these patterns. This bachelor’s thesis aims to use a quantitative approach in the form of an online survey (n=465), to research this. For that, the survey asked questions about the participants gaming behavior and interactions with a wide array of Dark Patterns. The participants will then be grouped into casual-, core- and hardcore gamers based on their answers about their gaming behavior, after which the groups will then be directly compared in terms of their exposure and vulnerability towards Dark Patterns, in order to find any significant differences. Finally, these results will be discussed and suggestions for further research will be offered
Implementation, execution, and analysis of efficiency measurements to be used in the calculation of CO₂ emissions and fuel consumption of heavy-duty vehicles as per Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/2400
No full textQuick and reliable transport of goods within the European Union is possible, in part, due to the use of heavy-duty vehicles. Whether long-haul routes, or local and urban deliveries, heavy-duty vehicles are crucial for a large part of EU’s economic activity and the number of these vehicles on the road increases every year. However, they also are main contributors to the total greenhouse gas emissions of the road transport sector and play an important role in the total emissions of the European Union. Therefore, it is of great economic and environmental importance to closely monitor emissions and fuel efficiency of heavy-duty vehicles currently on the road and market, forcing manufacturers to reduce emissions from their vehicles and develop more energy-efficient technologies. For this purpose, the European Commission developed the VECTO simulation tool, reducing costs and time necessary for the approval process and monitoring of new vehicles in the EU.
While generic values related to the CO₂ emissions and fuel efficiency characteristics of most components of heavy-duty vehicles are provided by the European Commission to use in VECTO simulations, accurate results require actual component testing. With no VECTO specific testing offered by vehicle testing specialists, this thesis aims to conduct an analysis of Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/2400, guideline for the use of VECTO, to identify requirements, develop and implement testing procedures in experimental tests, and validate results to ensure that the requirements of the regulation are met
Erstellung einer Risiko- und Gefahrenanalyse zur Bewertung von allergenen, biologischen, chemischen, bio-chemischen und physikalischen Kontaminanten für die praktische Anwendung in der Lebensmittelindustrie
No full textThis bachelor thesis deals with contaminants in the food industry and presents them in a hazard analysis and risk assessment according to the specifications of Sauels Frische Wurst GmbH Fleischwaren & Co. KG. Allergenic, microbiological, chemical, bio-chemical and physical contaminants were considered.
The allergenic contaminants include gluten, crustaceans and molluscs, fish, eggs, soy, milk, nuts, peanuts and celery. The microbiological ones are the apathogenic microorganisms yeasts and molds and the pathogenic microorganisms are Bacillus cereus, Clostridium perfingens, Escherichia coli, Yersinia enterocolitica, Campylobacter jejuni, Listeria monocytogenes, Toxoplasma gondii and Staphylococus areus. Hard plastic and metal were evaluated as possible foreign bodies. In the chemistry section, intentional radiation, acrylamide, mercury, bisphenol A, and ethylene oxide were addressed. The bio-chemical contaminant considered was aflatoxin. The following contaminants were evaluated as highly critical. Whilst all allergens pose a risk due to their harmful potential, it is the incorrect labeling which constitutes the risk from the producers perspective. Among microbiological contaminants, Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli are the microorganisms with the highest risk. This is based on the fact that these are typical recontamination bacteria. The physical contaminants described all recieved the same rating in the hazard analysis and risk assessment. The actual nature of a foreign body determines the hazard in each individual case in the assessment. Ethylene oxide has been evaluated as the most critical in the analysis among the chemical contaminants, because of its high probability of occurrence, which is based on the calculated recall rate and its carcinogenicity. The highest risk of the bio-chemical contaminants comes from aflatoxins, as this is the only mycotoxin that is pathogenic.
The application of hazard analysis and risk assessment must take into account company-specific factors. New scientific findings, detection methods and other relevant contaminants must be continuously incorporated into the analysis