Research

Project Details:
Seit 2013 wird der Progress Test Tiermedizin gemeinsam an deutschsprachigen veterinärmedizinischen Bildungsstätten durchgeführt. Die Stiftung Tierärztliche Hochschule (TiHo) bietet den Progress Test kontinuierlich seit 2013 den Studierenden an. Es erfolgt eine Auswertung der TiHo-spezifischen Daten.

Results:

Herrmann, Lisa (2021): Untersuchungen zum Progress Test Tiermedizin an der Stiftung Tierärztliche Hochschule Hannover. Hannover. Online unter: https://elib.tiho-hannover.de/receive/tiho_mods_00004988

Funding: Rijkswaterstaat, Verkeer en Leefomgeving (WVL), Utrecht, 30.113 EUR

Project Details:
The aim of the project is an update of the predicted density maps of harbour porpoises in the North Sea, as previously done by ITAW.
Effort and sighting data collected during dedicated harbour porpoise aerial surveys in the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Germany during the period 2013 until 2018, as well as the international SCANS-III survey from July 2016, will be analysed jointly to produce updates of the spatial density predictions.
Three seasonal maps (for spring, summer and autumn), will be produced from the available survey data.

Results:

This project aimed to update density surface layers for harbour porpoises in the North Sea by enlarging an existing database from the period 2005-2013 (Gilles et al. 2016) with dedicated aerial survey data from 2014-2019. Effort and sighting data collected during dedicated harbour porpoise aerial surveys in the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Germany during the period 2014 until 2019, as well as the international SCANS-III survey from July 2016, was analyzed jointly to produce updates of the spatial density predictions. For summer, the prediction of harbor porpoises showed a hotspot of high porpoise density in the south and south-western part of the study area. In comparison to the summer density surface from the previous period (Gilles et al. 2016), the hotspot off the northern German coast (SAC Sylt Outer Reef) and off the coast of Jutland in Denmark seems to be lower in intensity. The overall model-based abundance estimate of 384,864 individuals (CV=0.08) seems reasonable and is similar to the previous estimate from Gilles et al. (2016) for the period 2005-2013 (361,146; CV=0.20) and the design-based estimate from SCANS-III (2016) for the ICES assessment unit ‘North Sea’ (345,373; CV=0.18; Hammond et al. 2017). Since the addition of the recent survey data in spring and autumn did not result in a major change of the predicted density surface, probably due to low and restricted effort, we advise to use the predicted density surface layers from Gilles et al. (2016) for spring and autumn, respectively.

Cooperation Partners:

Wageningen Marine Research

Funding: 441.270 EUR

Project Details:
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Funding: Ministerium für Energiewende, Landwirtschaft, Umwelt, Natur und Digitalisierung (MELUND, Kiel), 91.738 EUR

Project Details:
The native grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) population developed increasingly positive after official protection and following recolonisation of the Wadden Sea. This can be seen as a good sign for the effectiveness of the implemented protective measures regarding the population development.
However, the positive population development also creates challenges from the management point of view. There is an increasing demand of suitable habitat as well as ressources, which is mostly associated with an enhanced conflict potential. This is especially connected with several tourism, fishery and energy industry stakeholders utilising the North Sea area.
The gain of a preferably comprehensive understanding of the target species concerning biology, health, habitat demand and connected population development is a fundamental requirement for the implementation of an effective and future-oriented management. Beside the value for the future local management concept, this knowledge is increasingly requested within the framework of international treaties.
The Heligoland dune plays a superior role for the German grey seal population. Up to 68% of the German population can be found there. Due to this presence, Heligoland is especially suitable as model region for further scientific studies in order to promote an understanding on national level beside the local situation.
Therefore, following aspects shall be processed in the context of this project:

° Detailed evaluation of beach use by grey seals on the Heligoland dune

° Analysis of collected data from the Schleswig-Holstein stranding network in order to gain a better understanding of marine mammals stranded on Heligoland (species, quantity, age, diseases)

° Support of public relations work for the management of potential human-wildlife conflict

° Feasibility studies concerning the investigation of long-term development and habitat use of the native grey seal population via telemetry under consideration of mortality, fertility and site fidelity as essential parameters for population development

Results:

In close cooperation with the Jordsand Association and the municipality's own dune rangers, existing count data were aggregated, sifted and evaluated.

For the evaluation, count data collected almost daily from 2016 to 2019 could be used. As expected, there is seasonal variation in the number of grey seals present. Thereby, the time of the fur change (March, April), as well as the birth phase (November, December) are the periods of the year when the most animals are sighted on the dune. This observation also shows that a significantly larger proportion of female animals is present on Helgoland during almost the entire course of the year. A further insight, which can be derived from this representation, refers to the time of the coat change. Here it is evident from the proportional distribution that female grey seals change their coats earlier (peak: ~end of February) than males (peak: ~mid-April).

Looking at the use in consideration of the individual beaches, it is noticeable that the beaches are used very differently. For grey seals, the north beach plays an important role as the main berth throughout the year. In the period from June to July alone, there are more grey seals on the southern beach than on the northern beach. The Aade, on the other hand, plays a rather subordinate role during the course of the year and is only increasingly used at the time of the change of coat, as well as during the birth phase.

In order to support the local public relations work, as well as to continue the important transfer of scientific knowledge to the population, several posters were created within the framework of this project, which contain general information about the biology of the seals on Helgoland, but also recommendations for the behavior towards the grey seals as well as current research results.

For an assessment of the long-term development of a population, it is essential to have a deeper understanding of space use and habitat requirements of juveniles. These parameters are difficult to determine for marine mammals because observing behavior at sea is nearly impossible. Satellite-based telemetry provides one method to record the distribution and behavior of juveniles after they leave their birthplace.

In order to gain further insights into the spatial distribution on the open sea as well as the use of feeding areas by means of the generated position data, further evaluation methods were used.

Special focus was put on Bayesian data analysis using so-called "Hierarchical state space models".

On the basis of the specific behavior of the transmitted grey seals, a recorded track can be divided into different uses. This shows that, in addition to the moorings in the coastal area, areas far "offshore" are used intensively by the animals. The generated dive data provide a further basis for evaluating the use of the available habitat. Thus, it can be shown that individuals frequently undertake benthic dives, reaching depths of up to 50 meters.

In summary, it can be said that with the methods shown and tested, a solid and reproducible analysis procedure could be established, which, despite the use of relatively simple equipment, allows a more in-depth assessment of the habitat use and distribution of the animals.

https://www.tiho-hannover.de/fileadmin//57_79_terr_aqua_Wildtierforschung/79_Buesum/downloads/Berichte/Helgolaender_Kegelrobbe.pdf

Funding: Industry (Feed manifacturing) , 8.234 EUR

Project Details:
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Funding: Brigitte und Wolfram Gedek-Stiftung, Ismaning, 20.000 EUR

Project Details:
Im Rahmen dieses Projektes werden sowohl Kakao, als auch daraus hergestellte Produkte auf ein mögliches Vorkommen von Mykotoxinen mittels enzymimmunologischer Verfahren untersucht. Das Ziel ist eine orientierende Risikoabschätzung in Bezug auf den Verzehr dieser Lebensmittelgruppe.

Project Details:
Die Behandlung von Lebensmitteln mit UV-C-Strahlen ist ein schon seit einiger Zeit in verschiedenen Ländern durchgeführtes nicht-thermisches Verfahren, um die mikrobielle Kontamination an der Oberfläche von Lebensmitteln zu reduzieren und damit die Haltbarkeit der Produkte zu verlängern. In vielen Untersuchungen konnten diese keimreduzierenden Effekte gezeigt werden, allerdings sind keine Studien verfügbar, die die Effekte einer UV-Laser-Behandlung auf die Qualitätsmerkmale der bestrahlten Produkte untersucht haben. In der Arbeit wurde deswegen die Reduktion von Mikroorganismen auf Hähnchenfleisch und die Veränderung verschiedener anderer Qualitätsmerkmale des Fleisches nach Einsatz von UV-Hochleistungs-LEDs evaluiert. Hierzu wurden die Hähnchenbrustmuskeln mit den pathogenen Bakterien Salmonella Typhimurium und Brochothrix thermosphacta inokuliert, anschließend mit UV-C-Hochleistungs-LEDs (270 nm) mit jeweils einer Dosis von 375 mJ/cm2 und 1890 mJ/cm2 bestrahlt und nach der UV-C-Laser-Behandlung bei 4 °C für 14 Tage unter Schutzgas gelagert. Ziel der Untersuchung war es, den Einfluss eines starken UV-C-Lichtes auf die mikrobiologische Belastung des Hähnchenfleisches und auf deren physikochemische Parameter nicht nur direkt nach der Behandlung, sondern auch während der anschließenden Lagerung unter Schutzgas zu evaluieren.

Cooperation Partners:

PD Dr. Merve Wollweber, Laserzentrum Hannover e.V. (LZH)

Funding: Nationalparkverwaltung "Nieders. Wattenmeer" Wilhelmshaven, 35.965 EUR

Project Details:
The aim of the project is a survey of the local grey seal population in the entire Wadden Sea of Lower Saxony and Hamburg during the birthing season (November-December) and at the time of the fur change (March-April).
On five trilaterally coordinated dates, airborne surveys will be conducted with a single-engine aircraft. During the aerial surveys of the tidal flats, a high-resolution SLR camera will be used to photograph the haul-outs. To determine the number of hatchlings born and the total population, the photos taken are subsequently analyzed on the computer.

Results:

Brasseur S., Carius F., Diederichs B., Galatius A., Jeß A., Körber P., Schop J., Siebert U., Teilmann J., Bie Thøstesen C. & Klöpper S. (2020) EG-Seals grey seal surveys in the Wadden Sea and Helgoland in 2019-2020. Common Wadden Sea Secretariat, Wilhelmshaven, Germany.

https://www.nationalpark-wattenmeer.de/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/2020_Greysealreport-2019-2020.pdf

Funding: Erasmus+ Programm , 41.000 EUR

Project Details:
In diesem internationalen Kooperationsprojekt wird ein Muster-Curriculum für das Tiermedizinstudium entwickelt. Das Ziel ist es, sogenannte Softskills in die tierärztliche Ausbildung zu integrieren. Der Fokus liegt auf den Kompetenzbereichen kommunikative Kompetenzen, Unternehmertum und Entrepreneurship sowie digitale Kompetenzen. Es findet eine Begleitforschung statt.

Results:

KLEINSORGEN C, STEINBERG E, DÖMÖTÖR R, PIANO JZ, RUGELJ J, MANDOKI M, RADIN L. "The SOFTVETS Competence Model" - a preliminary project report. GMS J Med Educ 2021;38(3):Doc50; doi: 10.3205/zma001446 

 

Handbuch: https://softvets.eu/softvets-handbook/

https://softvets.eu/

Cooperation Partners:

Veterinärmedizinische Fakultät der Universität Zagreb

Veterinärmedizinische Universität Wien

Veterinärmedizinische Universität Budapest

Veterinärmedizinische Fakultät der Universität Ljubljana

European Association of Establishments for Veterinary Education (EAEVE)

Internationale Studierendenvertretung International Veterinary Students Association (IVSA)

Funding: Bundesministerium für Ernährung und Landwirtschaft - BMEL

Project Details:
Im Vergleich zu anderen Getreidearten ist Roggen sehr reich an "Ballaststoffen", d. h. an Kohlenhydraten, die nicht durch körpereigene Enzyme, sondern nur durch die Darmflora abgebaut werden können (z. B. Arabinoxylane/Fructane). Spezifische, diätetisch erwünschte Wirkungen werden dabei insbesondere dem Fermentationsmuster (besonders butyratreich) zugesprochen. Gerade im Vergleich zu Weizen sollen diesbezügliche Auswirkungen geprüft werden. In-vivo-Untersuchungen dienen der Gewinnung von Chymus vom terminalen Ileum, in dem sowohl die Flora als auch das Fermentationsmuster bestimmt werden. Ileum- und Faeces-Flora wird aber auch als Inokulum für In-vitro-Fermentationsversuche genutzt, um die Produktionsraten spezifischer flüchtiger Fettsäuren quantifizieren zu können.

Cooperation Partners:

Institut für Tierernährung, Freie Universität Berlin,

Institut für Tierernährung, Universität Bonn,

KWS LOCHOW GmbH, Bergen/Wohlde