Austrian Government Research Articles

Wieviel Sicherheit braucht der Friede? Zivile und militärische Näherungen zur österreichischen Sicherheitsstrategie

<i>Wieviel Sicherheit braucht der Friede? Zivile und militärische Näherungen zur österreichischen Sicherheitsstrategie</i>

Determining Turkish migration to Austria: the role of migration policy

Migration from Turkey to Austria started as “guest worker” labour migration. Soon, however, there were signs of permanent immigration from Turkey to Austria leading to a permanent migration in which the differences between labour and family migration began to blur. How can we explain Turkish migration and its shifting dynamics to Austria from a historical perspective? Which factors have played a role in shaping this migration? Turkish migration to Austria offers an interesting case for a discussion of migration policy outcomes since Austria has been a good example of a country with restrictive policies in European comparison. Austrian government policies were of major importance for determining the migratory process from Turkey. However, these were continuously challenged by interventions of the Austrian Constitutional Court, European Court of Human Rights and European Court of Justice. Besides, factors at the individual and meso level, such as family and community networks, and issues connected to economic and political developments in Turkey, shaped migration policy outcomes. After discussing in more detail the various factors that have been identified as influencing migration processes in previous studies, I will examine the interaction of these factors in shaping Turkish migration to Austria, and the role of limiting government policies.

Editorial: Turkish migrants and their descendants in Austria Patterns of exclusion and individual and political responses

Turkish immigrants and their descendants have become the main target of anti-immigrant political mobilization in Austria since the 1990s. They have come to epitomize the image of the Oriental enemy and the Muslim other. Based on these discursive constructions, Muslims in general, and Turks in particular, have often been described as unwilling to integrate into Austrian society. The articles in this special issue show not only that these discourses and exclusionary attitudes may result in discriminatory practices towards Turkish immigrants and their descendants in Austria, but also that the alleged unwillingness to integrate may be explained by the lack of effort made by the Austrian government and Austrian institutions to integrate this group.

Tariff increases over the electoral cycle: A question of size and salience

Research on the political budget cycle suggests that some budget items are more visible than others. Accordingly, the cycle will exert a varying impact on policy instruments of different salience. Using a panel data set of tariff decisions by Austrian local governments we identify a stable and sizable electoral cycle in water tariffs. Tariff increases are both less frequent and less strong before elections. The cycle effect is, however, not constant: Small increases are not affected by elections or even more likely. This is consistent with advances from prospect theory suggesting that visibility may depend on the size of a policy. Consequently, small tariff changes may not be salient, particularly if they are below inflation as a reference threshold.

Ein Parlament für den Deutschen Bund? Zur Frage einer gesamtdeutschen Nationalvertretung in den Jahren 1851 bis 1866

SUMMARY11Etwas erweiterter Text meines Vortrags im Rahmen der ICHRPI-Jahreskonferenz in Dublin am 5. September 2013.The German Confederation (Deutscher Bund) did not have a parliament during the entire period of its existence (1815–1866). For decades the Bundestag in Frankfurt am Main debated intensively about the introduction of parliamentary representation, but it was never realized, even after the revolution of 1848/49. The main reason for this has to be seen in the fact that after 1815 the largest and most influential German power, the Habsburg Empire, blocked the establishment of a parliament. When the Viennese government accepted the introduction of an indirectly elected assembly of delegates in 1862/63, it was already too late. The German national movement, especially the ‘German National Association’ (Deutscher Nationalverein), called for a directly elected all-German parliament since the end of the revolution. This had not been accepted by the Austrian government, because the foundations of the Habsburg Monarchy as a multi-ethnic state would have come into question. The Prussian government, in turn, only used the call for an all-German, directly elected parliament to advance its own goals.

The Failure of the Austrian and Yugoslav Police to Repress the Croatian Ustaša in Austria, 1929–1934

Since the 1970s, historiography about the pre-World War II phase of the Croatian Ustaša concentrated on Italian and Hungarian state support for Ante Pavelić's national-separatist/terrorist organization from approximately 1929–1934, and identified Nazi support when it became more significant in the late 1930s and put the group in charge of the Independent State of Croatia in 1941. More recent scholarship has investigated the support of Croatian exiles in the United States and Argentina for the Ustaša movement, as well as how the Ustaša regime, once in power, tried to legitimate its policies of racial “cleansing” and social revolution against capitalism and secularism. The first aim of this article is to return to the early period of the Ustaša, when it was a terrorist organization, and to show that it had an important base in Austria that senior Austrian police officials tolerated. The article, therefore, takes a somewhat different position from that of historian Arnold Suppan, who argued that the Austrian police could find no evidence that the Ustaša in Austria had been involved in terrorism, and that the Austrian government had made a good faith effort to expel Ustaša members. The fact that elements of the Austrian police indeed knew about the Ustaša network and protected certain senior members supports historian Gerhard Jagschitz's argument that the Vienna police had not turned over a new leaf in the postwar period and had not shed all political activities. However, Jagschitz concentrated on the problems surrounding the establishment of a domestic intelligence agency in the 1920s, showing how it ultimately was not effective. This article concentrates on 1929–1934, demonstrating that while the Austrian political police was not all-knowing, certain decisions not to share what it knew about ultra-nationalist Croatian terrorism damaged the Austrian police's international reputation. Second, this article argues that the Yugoslav police possibly turned to shadowy extra-judicial groups to carry out assassinations against Ustaša figures, in part because the Austrian police were not aggressive enough in repressing the organization. This adds an additional factor to the interpretations of historians James Sadkovich and Mario Jareb, who contend that Yugoslav police violence was an extension of the Serbian dictatorship's attempt to repress Croatian nationalism by any means necessary.

Effects of the menstrual cycle on the metabolic and vascular phenotype of healthy women (643.7)

Goals: In the EU‐funded FP7 project BIOCLAIMS extensive metabolic phenotyping of healthy subjects is performed to identify and characterize biomarkers of metabolic robustness. This study aims at elucidating changes in these biomarkers during the menstrual cycle.Subjects &amp; methods: Healthy women (n=26) not taking hormonal contraceptives, aged 34±6.1 y, were investigated after an overnight fast at early (day 5.9±0.97, t1) and late follicular phase (day 12.0±1.82, t2), and mid (day 19.6±2.52, t3) and late luteal phase (day 25.2±2.12, t4). Time points of investigation were scheduled based on basal body temperature records prior to the study. Phenotyping included body composition (bioelectrical impedance), endothelial function (flow‐mediated dilatation, FMD), activation of p65, p50 and cRel subunits of transcription factor nuclear factor κB (NF‐κB) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (TransAM®), vitamin A, C, E, carotenoids, symmetrical (SDMA), asymmetrical dimethyl (ADMA) and homo‐arginine (HA) and human mercaptalbumin (HMA), all by HPLC, leptin, adiponectin by ELISA; lipid status; vitamin B12 and folic acid by clinical chemistry.Results: Significant differences between time points were observed for NF‐κB p65 activation (P=0.017), plasma ascorbate (P&lt;0.001), B12 (P=0.002), folic acid (P=0.032), ADMA (P&lt;0.001), SDMA (P=0.037), and HA (P=0.012), and LDL cholesterol concentrations (P&lt;0.001), all significant for t1&gt;t3, while FMD (P=0.011), leptin (P=0.024) and adiponectin (P=0.027) were significant for t3&gt;t1. There were no significant changes in HMA, body composition and other variables.Conclusions: Follicular and luteal phase differentially affect the metabolic phenotype of healthy women. Changes between t1 and t3 can be explained by previously shown estrogen effects, including reduction of NF‐κB activation in primary human macrophages, enhanced leptin synthesis and improvement of FMD due to decreases in ADMA, a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor.Grant Funding Source: Supported by European Commission, FP7, contract 244995, and Austrian Government (bmwf)

Pożegnanie z monarchią habsburską

A Farewell to the Habsburg Monarchy Od autonomii do niepodleglości. Ksztaltowanie sie postaw narodowych i politycznych spoleczenstwa Galicji w warunkach Wielkiej Wojny 1914–1918 (Kielce 2012) by Jerzy Z. Pająk deals with the shaping of national awareness among the population of Galicia in 1914–1918, and pays particular attention to mutual relations between the Polish, Ukrainian, and Jewish communities and the course of their emancipation from the partitioning power. The national and political stances of the population of Galicia were also moulded by other important factors discussed by the author; an essential role was played by local Austrian authorities as well as their central counterparts in Vienna involved in decisions of key importance for the fate of Galicia. The political and national attitudes of the inhabitants of the Austrian partition area were also influenced by the Roman Catholic and Greek Catholic Churches. The author conducted extensive research in archives in Poland and Lviv. Much information about relations between the Poles and the authorities of the Habsburg monarchy as well as Ukrainian and Jewish neighbours is to be found in material omitted by Pająk and contained in the Austrian State Archives in Vienna (Allgemeines Verwaltungsarchiv, Kriegsarchiv, Haus-, Hofund Staatsarchiv). These sources refer to to numerous central institutions of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, such as the imperial cabinet, the Austrian government, assorted ministries, the supreme military command, and the Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence services.

The potentials of a reverse auction in allocating subsidies for cost-effective roof-top photovoltaic system deployment

Photovoltaic (PV) has developed to one of the most promising technologies for renewable electricity generation. The Austrian government currently provides subsidies for roof-top PV systems through a constant, administratively determined feed-in tariff or an investment co-funding. In both subsidy schemes, applications are approved on a first-come, first-served basis. There are concerns about (i) the selection of suitable roofs for PV systems, and (ii) allocating subsidies among applicants to deploy roof-top PV systems cost-effectively. Thus we analyze the potentials of a simple discriminative first-price reverse auction application scheme. Applicants define individually the required level of subsidy and those with the lowest request for subsidies are selected. In an ex-post analysis, we evaluate the potentials of such a scheme in increasing power output and saving public spending for the federal state of Vorarlberg in Austria. Results indicate a potential increase of cumulated produced electricity between 15% and 18% in comparison to the current policy. In addition, a reverse auction-based system would lead to savings of public spending per kWh between 20% and 41%.

Theoretical Analysis of the Combination of CSP with a Biomass CHP-plant Using ORC-technology in Central Europe

In this paper the results of the preliminary performance assessment of an emerging hybrid CHP-technology using Organic- Rankine-Cycle technology comprising biomass combustion and concentrating solar thermal power in areas with low DNI is presented. The study was conducted in course of the research project BIOconSOLAR, which was funded by the climate fund of the Austrian government. The assessment is based on the technical design and economic conditions of an existing CHP-plant with nominal electric power output of 1.5 MW, which is located in the city Salzburg in Austria. The solar thermal energy provided by a parabolic trough collector field is primary used for electric power production in order to reduce biomass consumption and operation costs accordingly, but also to boost the thermal energy supply for the district heating of the city Salzburg. For electric power production the solar thermal energy is fed into the ORC-power cycle at a temperature level of at least 270°C. A transient simulation model of both the biomass CHP-plant and the parabolic trough plant was developed in IPSEpro. Based on the results of the process simulation the economic performance was assessed by conducting a dynamic investment calculation. Despite the technical and economic uncertainties of this preliminary assessment the retrofitting of biomass-solar CHP-plants with CSP in areas with low DNI is a promising option to improve the economic performance of about 100 CHP-plants in operation in Central Europe. A feed-in-tariff for solar thermal electricity in the same order of magnitude as for photovoltaic could trigger the retrofit of biomass CHP-plants.

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Introduction: Cardiogenic shock is the most severe complications following a ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). The Mortality of patients with this clinical entity is extremely high and ranges from 40 to 80%. The identification of risk factors at the time of admission may help to establish therapeutic interventions, which will result in an improvement of the prognosis of these patients. We, therefore, analyzed our prospectively collected data of patients with STEMI in the Lower Austrian Myocardial Infarction Network within the last 5 years to identify factors associated with an increased mortality in patients with cardiogenic shock. Methods: Setting: Myocardial infarction network including the out-of-hospital emergency services, 5 primary care hospitals and a PCI-capable hospital in the western part of Lower Austria. Patients: The data of all patients with STEMI defined according to the AHA-criteria and treated according to the treatment protocol of the network were consecutively collected from June 2006 to May 2012. Patients without thrombolysis received the following medication given in the ambulance: 250 mg aspirin, 600 mg clopidogrel, a bolus of bivalirudin (0.1 mg/kg) followed by a continuous infusion of bivalirudin (0.25 mg/kg/h). The emergency physician used this predefined treatment protocol in all patients with STEMI. Patients eligible for thrombolysis received rtPa according to the guidelines, 250 mg aspirin, 300 mg clopidogrel and weight-adjusted unfractioned heparin.Cardiogenic shock was defined by sustained hypotension with tissue hypoperfusion despite adequate left ventricular filling pressure. Signs of tissue hypoperfusion include oliguria (<30 mL/h), cool extremities, and altered level of consciousness. The primary endpoint was 30-day survival assessed by using the data from the Statistical Department of the Austrian government, which collected the causes of death of all patients who died in a hospital in Austria. Results: Overall 89 (8.9%) out of 990 patients showed the signs of a cardiogenic shock following a STEMI. The overall 30-day survival was 56% in these group. The hemodynamic parameters on admission were also significant different between non-survivors and survivors: SBP: 108 (21) vs. 122 (19) mm Hg, DBP: 69 (18) vs. 71 (17) mm Hg, heart rate: 89 (18) vs. 83 (19) beats/min, p<0.05. Analyzing the data according to 30 day survival age and time from 1st ECG to coronary intervention had a major impact on survival of these patients (deceased vs. alive: AGE: 72 (11) vs. 64 (11) yrs., p<0.005, INTERVAL ECG-PCI: 122 (39) vs. 95 (46) min., p<0.01). Most important patients undergoing primary PCI had a significant lower 30-day mortality compared to those receiving thrombolysis or no coronary intervention (30-day survival: primary PCI: 64%, thrombolysis: 56%, no intervention: 25%). Conclusions: Cardiogenic shock is still associated with a low 30-day survival in patients with STEMI. However, our data clearly demonstrate that fast track transfer to the cath lab and performance of primary PCI are associated with an increased survival in these patients. Myocardial infarction networks have to improve their transfer modalities in hemodynamic compromised patients to warrant short time intervals between ECG and coronary intervention and to facilitate primary PCI on a 24 hour 7 day basis.

Coalition Policy-Making under Constraints: Examining the Role of Preferences and Institutions

While much has been written about the formation and termination of coalitions, comparatively little attention has been paid to the policy output of multiparty governments. The present study attempts to narrow this research gap by analysing policy-making in three Austrian coalition governments between 1999 and 2008. Drawing on the party mandate literature, a manually coded textual analysis of election manifestos is conducted that yields a dataset containing over 1,100 pledges. The fulfilment of these pledges is taken as the dependent variable in a multivariate analysis. The results indicate that institutional determinants (adoption in the coalition agreement, ministerial control, and policy status quo) significantly influence the chances of pledge fulfilment and thus present a powerful predictor of coalition policy output. By contrast, factors related to parties’ preferences (consensus between parties, policy distance, pledge saliency, and majority support in parliament) do not have an impact.

Hungary and theIndirectProtection of EU Fundamental Rights and the Rule of Law

According to Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union, the European Union is a political and economic union founded on a respect for fundamental rights and the rule of law, referred to hereafter as EU fundamental values. The central place of this commitment in the EU Treaties suggests a founding assumption: That the EU is a Union of states who themselves see human rights and the rule of law as irrevocable parts of their political and legal order. Reminiscent of the entry of Jorg Haider's far-right Freedom Party into the Austrian government in 2000, the events of 2012 have done much to shake that assumption; questioning both how interwoven the rule of law tradition is across the present-day EU, and the role the EU ought to play in policing potential violations of fundamental rights carried out via the constitutional frameworks of its Member States. Much attention in this field, much like the focus of this paper, has been placed on events in one state in particular: Hungary.

Augmenting Austrian flood management practices through geospatial predictive analytics: a study in Carinthia

Abstract. The Danube River basin has long been the location of significant flooding problems across central Europe. The last decade has seen a sharp increase in the frequency, duration and intensity of these flood events, unveiling a dire need for enhanced flood management policy and tools in the region. Located in the southern portion of Austria, the state of Carinthia has experienced a significant volume of intense flood impacts over the last decade. Although the Austrian government has acknowledged these issues, their remedial actions have been primarily structural to date. Continued focus on controlling the natural environment through infrastructure while disregarding the need to consider alternative forms of assessing flood exposure will only act as a provisional solution to this inescapable risk. In an attempt to remedy this flaw, this paper highlights the application of geospatial predictive analytics and spatial recovery index as a proxy for community resilience, as well as the cultural challenges associated with the application of foreign models within an Austrian environment.

Activation of RelA (p65), but not of p50 dimers of nuclear factor kappa B (NF‐κB) is decreased in impaired renal function

The NF‐κB signaling pathway plays a central role in chronic inflammation and is an important interface between inflammation and oxidative stress. The heterodimer RelA (p65) ‐ p50 is the most abundant transcription factor of the NF‐κB family. Decreased activation of RelA has been found in different pathologies. The purpose of this study of the BIOCLAIMS project was to investigate the activation of both the RelA and p50 dimers in individuals with different stages of renal function. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were collected from 362 study subjects with glomerular filtration rate (GFR, MDRD) of 18–123 mL/min/1.73 m2. Activation of NF‐κB dimers containing RelA and p50 was determined using an ELISA‐based assay (TransAM, Active Motif). Linear regression analysis showed that activation of RelA‐containing NF‐κB dimers decreased significantly with decreasing GFR (r = 0.171, P = 0.001), while activation of p50‐containing NF‐κB dimers increased significantly with decreasing GFR (r = − 0.148, P = 0.005). Antioxidant status, including plasma concentrations of vitamin C, α‐ and γ‐tocopherol and β‐carotene did not explain NF‐κB activation beyond kidney function. To our knowledge this is the first report on differential effects of impaired renal function on RelA and p50 activation. The underlying mechanisms of these findings need to be further elucidated.Grant Funding Source: Supported by European Commission, FP7, contract 244995, and Austrian Government (bmwf).

Performance framework in Austria: Opportunities and challenges

As of 2013 the Austrian federal government will be managed according to the principle of outcome-orientation. This reform element is integrated in a holistic financial management framework, comprising a legally binding medium expenditure framework with a relaxed budget system giving high carry-forward and shifting possibilities (as of 2009), accrual budgeting and accounting, a modified form of programme budgeting and the creation of the Federal Performance Office in the Federal Chancellery and a Budget Office in Parliament (e.g. Seiwald, Meyer, Hammerschmid, Egger-Peitler, & Höllerer, 2013; Seiwald/Geppl 2012; Steger, 2007). The relaxed budget rules, since 2009 in effect, have created an accountability gap, which will be closed by the Performance Framework.The performance framework consists of a performance budgeting model with the obligatory definition of objectives and performance indicators for each line ministry, a performance management system with obligatory performance mandates for state bodies and organisations with budgetary responsibility as well as a performance reporting system, for both Parliament and within the government and ministries. The performance measurement systems will have been established and reorganised in order to fulfil the demands of the new performance management regime. The Performance Management Office, established in 2010, supports and advises ministries in this process, provides quality assurance to objectives and indicators and prepares the performance reports to Parliament.Our paper will describe the key elements of the Austrian performance framework. It explains the implementation strategy and highlights opportunities, tensions as well as challenges from a practical point of view.

Socio-political status of Serbs in the Habsburg Monarchy from the privileges of Leopold to declaratoria

The authors begin with the defining of the Serbian privileges 1690-1695 and their different interpretations by the Austrian (imperial) and Hungarian (county) government. For the Viennese court, Serbs were a nation (natio Rascianica), while for the Hungarian classes they were just a recognized religious group living in the ancient Hungarian territory. Because of these two different opinions, the privileges were the most important thing for the Serbs living in the territory of Hungary. At the same time, the Viennese court repeatedly upheld Serbian privileged status, but with various restrictive clauses. Serbian privileges were considerably reduced over time and, finally, in the seventies of the 18th century they were completely devalued.

A TRIBUTE TO A LIVING LEGEND (Special Issue in Honor of the 70th Birthday of Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman.)

History rarely witnesses the emergence of personalities whose monumental achievements change the course of science and technology in a country. Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman FRS, is one of such outstanding personalities whose contributions are multi-dimensional. For over half a century, he advanced our understanding of natural products and bioorganic chemistry, and inspired several generations of young scientists to choose these branches of chemical science as their future endeavors. From a humble beginning of independent research in an institution of a developing country, he advanced to capture the attention of the world’s natural product and medicinal chemistry communities with his seminal discoveries and his excellent leadership. He mentored a large number of young scholars from all over the world. Thus his enthusiasm for research and learning has spread globally. His research journey began with the development of synthetic approaches to complex anti-tumor alkaloids. He discovered over a thousand natural products, many of which proved to be novel with exciting biological properties. Around 850 publications, 25 international patents and over 114 books, published by major international publishers, are evidence to his enormous contributions in the field of natural products. The contributions of Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman go beyond his achievements in the field of chemical sciences. His leadership as the Federal Minister for Science and Technology, Information Technology and Higher Education of Pakistan, during 2000-2008 has completely changed the landscape of higher education in Pakistan. This included a significant increase in the number of universities from 57 to 137, tripling of the students’ enrolment from 257,000 to 810,000, increasing the national research output from 600 publications annually to 5,000 publications annually and raising university standards so much so that several universities in Pakistan are now ranked among the top 400 in the world. His work has received universal recognition and for this, he was honored with numerous awards and honorary doctorate degrees by many universities including the University of Cambridge. He is also the only scientist from the Islamic world to have been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society (London) in recognition of research work carried out within an Islamic country in the 350 years old history of the Royal Society. Prof. Rahman is the first scientist from the Muslim world to have won the prestigious UNESCO Science Prize (1999) in the 35 year-old history of the Prize. He was elected Honorary Life Fellow of Kings College, Cambridge University, UK in 2007. Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman was conferred the TWAS (The Academy of sciences for Developing World) Prize for Institution Building in Durban, South Africa in 2009 in recognition of his contributions for bringing about revolutionary changes in the higher education sector in Pakistan. The Austrian government also honoured him with its highest civil award (“Grosse Goldene Ehrenzeischen am Bande

Hans Kelsen and His Pure Theory of Law

DR. HANS KELSEN'S formal retirement from his professorship at the end of the current university year will mark another milestone in his varied and significant career. He has survived or escaped from two revolutions and a ruthless tyranny in central Europe. He has held honored and influential academic positions in five nations and on two continents. He has built and rebuilt a systematic philosophy of law and the state which has won him a place among the most distinguished legal-political philosophers of the present century. In this short article I propose to sketch his career and to state concisely what I conceive to be the most valuable contributions to American legal theory which can be derived from his writings. Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, on October 11, 1881, Hans Kelsen attended the University of Vienna and received his doctorate in law there at the age of twenty-five. After a few years of additional study at the Universities of Heidelberg and Berlin, he became in 1911 professor of public law and jurisprudence at the University of Vienna. Here he remained for nineteen years, the most creative period of his life. As a legal adviser to the Austrian government shortly after World War I he was asked to present several drafts of a constitution for the newly established Austrian republic. One of these drafts was, with a few changes, adopted as the Austrian Constitution of 1920. Professor Kelsen then had the honor and the valuable experience of membership on the Supreme Constitutional Court of Austria (1921-30). His theories of constitutional law, of the relation between law and state, which he developed during and shortly after this period, were based upon ample opportunity for observation of governmental operations. He was Dean of the Faculty of Law at Vienna in 1922-23. He went in 1930 to the University of Cologne, where he became professor of international law and jurisprudence and Dean of the Faculty. With the advent to power of Adolph Hitler he moved to Geneva, where he joined the faculty of the Graduate Institute of International Studies. He came to Harvard in 1941, and while there he wrote for American readers a summary and in part a revision of his earlier legal philosophy. This volume, translated into English,' was published in 1945 as the first volume of the Twentieth Century Legal Philosophy Series, sponsored by the Association of American Law Schools. In that same year he became an American citizen, and accepted an appointment as professor of political science in the University of California (Berkeley). The principal themes of Kelsen's writings have been his theories of law and the state, and his conception of international law. Yet he has written on legal sociology,2 on Plato's changing conception of justice,8 and on The * Cardozo Professor of Jurisprudence, Columbia University. 1 KELSEN, GENERAL THEORY OF LAW AND STATE (Wedberg's trans. 1945) (hereafter cited as GENERAL THEORY). The translation was made by Professor Anders Wedberg of the University of Stockholm. 2 SOCIETY AND NATURE. A SOCIOLOGICAL INQUIRY (1943). 3 Platonic Justice, 48 ETHICS 367-400 (1937-38).

Recording of direct health traits in Austria—Experience report with emphasis on aspects of availability for breeding purposes

A project to establish an Austria-wide health-monitoring system for cattle was launched in 2006. Veterinary diagnostic data subject to documentation by law [Law on the Control of Veterinary Medicinal Products (Tierarzneimittelkontrollgesetz)] are standardized, validated, and recorded in a central database. This Austria-wide project is a collaboration among agricultural and veterinary organizations as well as universities, and is also supported by the Austrian government. In addition to providing information for herd management and preventive measures, further objectives of the project include estimating breeding values for health traits and monitoring the overall health status of Austria's cattle. To ensure a high level of participation from farmers and veterinarians, data security issues are extremely important. Valid data are the prerequisite for the efficient use of health records. The challenge hereby is to distinguish between farms with low frequencies of diseases and incomplete documentation and recording. Measures were undertaken to establish a routine monitoring system for direct health traits. A routine genetic evaluation for direct health traits as part of the joint breeding value estimation program between Germany and Austria was introduced for Fleckvieh in December 2010, based on diagnostic data from 5,428 farms with 147,764 Fleckvieh cows. In 2010 to 2011, the reporting of direct health traits as a compulsory part of performance recording and the breeding program was introduced as well. The overall challenge is the availability of sufficient valid direct health data for reliable breeding values. Practical experience gained in Austria in setting up a health registration system, focusing mainly on the availability of direct health data for breeding purposes with its successes and difficulties, is described.