Research

Funding: Grimminger-Stiftung, 20.000 EUR

Project Details:
The hepatitis E virus (HEV) is mainly transmitted to humans through meat and meat products from infected animals. The transmission route via the environment through contaminated soil, water and/or (arable) plants has long been discussed. Possible vectors include manure or waste water. Many studies show that a considerable proportion of meat and sausage products as well as many wastewater and even surface water samples can be tested positive for HEV RNA. All these studies are based on RT-PCR testing, i.e. the detection of the HEV genome. In order to carry out a better risk assessment, for example when consuming food, and to be able to identify the spread of the virus and chains of infection more precisely, it is necessary to determine the intactness and thus the infectivity of the virus in such samples. In this project, meat and sausage samples as well as environmental samples in the form of manure and wastewater will be analyzed for the presence of HEV RNA as well as for the infectivity of the virus. For this purpose, a stable and efficient cell culture system has been established in recent years, which has already been successfully used to isolate HEV capable of replication from wild and domestic pig organ samples.

Funding: Aarhus University, 76.538 EUR

Project Details:
The aim of the project is to process the survey data from the summer period and aggregate the quality-checked data for the North Sea in the period 2021-2024; or a period close to that depending on data and model checking. An extraction of relevant environmental covariates, describing the habitat of harbour porpoises, and a fit of a species distribution model (generalized additive model GAM) is planned. The final selected model enables the spatial prediction of the harbour porpoise summer density in the study area. Subsequently, a model validation, estimation of the model error and confidence intervals is planned. Finally, a short technical report will be written to describe the method and the results with a focus on Danish waters in the North Sea.

Funding: Industrie, 260.000 EUR

Project Details:
Pre-clinical testing of a neuroprotective drug

Funding: Ministerium für Energie­wende, Klimaschutz, Umwelt und Natur, 396.250 EUR

Project Details:
The Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) is (re-)expanding in all parts of the German federal state of Schleswig-Holstein (SH) nowadays. As an aquatic mammal, otters mainly inhabit rivers, streams and lakes but also forage along the coastlines. Otters primarily feed on fish, whereas they are considered food generalists and also target amphibians, crustaceans, birds, mammals and other invertebrates. It is assumed that the decline of certain endangeredeD fish species can be linked to the growing otter population. Furthermore, there is an increase in conflicts between fisheries and otter conservation, both nationally and internationally. Therefore, an extensive evaluation of the current conflict potential between the growing otter population, fisheries situation and conservation conflicts between species is needed. This will be covered in the frame of this research project that focuses on fisheries, natural otter habitat and spawning areas of endangered salmonids in comparison:
-Installing wildlife cameras to assess the local abundance of otters
-Dietary analysis to investigate the prey spectrum of otters
-Determination of otter individuals using spraints (genetic fingerprinting)
-Evaluation of a potential conservation conflict between otters and salmonids
-Development of acustic deterrents to protect fisheries from otters
-Analysing reproduction parameters to assess the population health of otters using specimens found dead
-Development of a tagging method for otters

Funding: Nationalparkverwaltung "Niedersächsisches Wattenmeer"", Virchowstr. 1, 26383 Wilhelmshaven", 39.722 EUR

Project Details:
The aim of the project is a survey of the local grey seal population in the entire Lower Saxony and Hamburg Wadden Sea during the birthing season (November-December) 2024 and at the time of the fur change (March-April) 2025.
On five trilaterally coordinated dates (three during the birthing season; two during the fur-change period), 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. In order to determine the number of young born as well as the total population, the photos taken are subsequently analyzed on the computer.

Funding: "Niedersächsische Landesbehörde für Straßenbau und Verkehr""", 11.766 EUR

Project Details:
The project involves researching the legal basis, site inspection(s) with NLSTBV and stakeholders. Furthermore, determination and evaluation of the planning basis, inventory determination and evaluation as well as their cartographic processing.

Results:

Verfassen des Berichtes inkl. Bewertung, Empfehlungen, Konfliktanalysen

Funding: Karl-Eibl-Stiftung, 14.280 EUR

Project Details:
Ziel der Untersuchungen ist es, spezifische Referenzintervalle für Bullen der Rasse Deutsches Fleckvieh zu generieren. Hierbei sollen Proben aus der V. jugularis externa untersucht werden. Als Probenentnahmezeitpunkt wird die zweite Probengewinnung (vgl. EU VO 2020/686) frühestens 28 Tage (max. 30Tage) nach Einstallung und Beprobung des "letzten"" Tieres der Quarantäneeinheit herangezogen, die routinemäßig bei den Tieren aus seuchenhygienischen Gründen genommen wird. Dieser Zeitpunkt ist auch geeignet, um eine Aussage über die endokrine Reife und damit den Zeitpunkt für den Beginn der Spermaproduktion abzuschätzen. Die Werte sollen auch im Hinblick auf die Spermaquantität und -qualität der ersten Sprünge der Tiere ausgewertet werden, um spezifische Grenzbereiche zu etablieren für Bullen mit höherer versus schlechterer Spermaquantität bzw. -qualität."

Cooperation Partners:

Prof. Heiner Bollwein, University of Zurich | UZH · Clinic of Reproductive Medicine

Funding: Aarhus University, 5.291 EUR

Project Details:
For the surveys of the study area in the Skagerraö, densities and abundances of harbour porpoises were estimated and the inaccuracies (95% confidence intervals and coefficient of variation (CV)) associated with the estimation were determined. The processed data and results were submitted to the client.

Funding: Fresco Dog Foods GmbH, 39.599 EUR

Project Details:
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Funding: Rentenbank, 30.000 EUR

Project Details:
The core question of the project is how and for what reasons the chances of success for sustainably effective advice on animal protection and/or animal welfare on farms with livestock farming can be increased or, conversely, why such advice sometimes fails. Using preliminary studies (project "Agri-cultural advisors as key players for animal welfare and animal protection""), the project aims to iden-tify obstacles in the process and help eliminate them. To this end, explicit advisory situations will be presented together with advisors and advisors in collaboration with specific interested parties and the advisory material from various providers will be examined for its prospects of success."

Results:

dvice is effective if it is not only technically sound, but also methodically adapted to the respective conditions on the farm. Among other things, it is important that it remains communicative and takes into account the structural conditions under which the farmer can accept and implement advice. Voluntary participation is a key prerequisite for effective advice, as it is directly linked to the farm manager's inner motivation to accept new ideas and integrate recommendations into everyday farm life in the long term. At the same time, voluntary participation remains a critical point in practice. Feedback from the advisory practice shows that farms with a particularly high need for advice often make less use of advice. This is an important point that needs to be researched and worked on in the future. It also shows that the selection of advisory staff plays a decisive role: Communication skills, methodological flexibility and a willingness to reflect are just as relevant as professional expertise. In this project, it was not only possible to work out relevant content-related findings, but also to incorporate these into the existing training and further training materials for advisors in a targeted manner in order to improve their quality. Both methodological and content-related foundations were created on which to build. Just like its clients, the farmers, the advisory service must constantly adapt to new, changing circumstances and overcome challenges. For example, through the qualitative further development of advisory processes, in the training of advisors or in what is probably the most complex task, the targeted approach to farms that were previously difficult to reach.