Overview of research projects

Funding: Fritz-Ahrberg-Stiftung, 20.000 EUR

Project Details:
In addition to antimicrobial molecules, nitrate and nitrite ions are also produced during the generation of PAW. PAW could thus be suitable as a basis of brines for curing meat products. On the one hand, the addition of classical nitrite curing salt could be minimized, on the other hand, the antimicrobial molecules contained in the PAW could have positive effects on the shelf life of the products. As part of the project, a novel production process of wet-cured meat products using PAW will be established and possible positive but also negative effects on the product will be determined.

Funding: Drittmittelprojekt, gefördert durch die Fritz-Ahrberg-Stiftung., 30.000 EUR

Project Details:
This research project will compare the meat quality of buffalo and conventionally raised cattle. Using different storage and cooking methods, the widespread perception of tough and difficult-to-prepare buffalo meat will be scientifically analyzed. In addition to the comparative characterization of basic meat properties such as pH and conductivity,
water holding capacity, nutritional values, collagen content and texture parameters, microbiological investigations and, in particular, a sensory evaluation of the two meat species will be carried out.

Project Details:
Das Ziel der Untersuchungen soll darin bestehen, Bakteriophagen pferdetypischer Krankheitserreger aus Genitalsekreten von Hengst und Stute zu isolieren und zu charakterisieren. Weiterhin soll die antibakterielle Wirksamkeit der isolierten Bakteriophagen im in vitro-Modell überprüft werden.

Funding: BMBF, 212.548 EUR

Project Details:
We applied for an follow-up financing in order to increase the reach, the attractiveness as well as the functionaliy of the platform. Due to corona this was not possible to a sufficient extent within the originally planned projekt period. The following optimizations are now planned for the top-up phase:
Target group expansion to include interested non-scientists.
Networking of 3R-SMART with established online portals of external partners.
Integration of an area with Open-Educational-Resources.
Integration of a collection of contributions to 3R centers.
Integration of interactive elements into existing contributions.

Cooperation Partners:

Philipps-Universität Marburg

Funding: LKN, 49.979 EUR

Project Details:
Harbour porpoises are representatives of the top predators from the group of mammals in the North Sea and Wadden Sea. With the amendment of the National Park Act in 1999, part of the National Park was explicitly dedicated to harbour porpoise protection, as a high density of mother-calf pairs was found there. As part of the reorganisation of the Federal-and State Marine Programme (BLMP), a programme for joint monitoring of marine mammals was agreed in January 2011, which meets the requirements of monitoring according to the relevant European guidelines and international conventions. In this programme, the Schleswig-Holstein National Park Administration (NPV) in the Schleswig-Holstein State Agency for Coastal Protection, National Parks and Marine Conservation (LKN) has the task of organising, implementing and financing the acoustic monitoring of harbour porpoises. The acoustic surveys for the NPV are carried out by the Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research (ITAW) as part of the joint marine mammal monitoring under the BLMP. For this purpose, measuring stations are operated at five specified sites in the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea (Lister Tief, Meldorfer Bucht, Rochelsteert and Westerland) and for the first time in the estuary of the Elbe river (close to the measuring pile ?Zehnerloch?). The monitoring stations are equipped with click detectors (Cetacean-Porpoise Detectors, C-PODs), which record the echolocation activity of harbour porpoises. The C-PODs are maintained and data downloaded on a regular basis. The data obtained are evaluated for optimising the acoustic monitoring as well as necessary extensions for a permanent operation of the measuring stations. The data of this long-term study provide information on a possible rhythm and tidal dependence in the porpoise detections over the course of a day and a year.

Funding: Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie, 220.000 EUR

Project Details:
Wildlife repellents are used to keep wildlife, especially ungulates, away from roads and agricultural and forestry crops. The construction of fences is currently the most effective, but also the most complex method. However, these fences cannot and should not be installed comprehensively. For this reason, optical, acoustic or olfactory repellents are commonly
used. While the efficacy of optical and acoustic devices to prevent wildlife-vehicle collisions and wildlife damage has now been refuted, the influence of olfactory repellents has not yet been sufficiently investigated. Since, in addition to the potential efficacy, the enormous amount of work and costs involved in the application also counteracts effective use, a novel wildlife steering system based on combined olfactory repellent depots for semi-automated application by vehicles is to be developed to solve this problem. These repellents can be combined and adapted according to the animal species in focus.
A special carrier paper is impregnated with the respective olfactory repellents and pressed with an aerodynamically optimized carrier for optimal flight characteristics for automated application. In this way, a targeted and cost-effective distribution of combined olfactory repellents should be possible and a virtual scent fence with increased duration of efficacy could be created.

Project Details:
Microvillus inclusion disease (MVID) is a rare congenital disorder that is characterized by a villus atrophy and the presence of microvillus inclusion bodies (MVIBs). In experimental settings using cationized ferritin in human biopsies we have previously demonstrated that the inclusion bodies originate from autophagocytosis of apical cell membrane and represent early endosomes. The genetic defect in MVID has been meanwhile mapped to the MYO5B gene that encodes the unconventional type myosin 5b motor protein. Myosin 5b is associated with the plasma membrane recycling system in non-polarized cells and the apical recycling system in polarized cells. Furthermore, it has been shown that the Rab11 family interacting protein 2 associates with myosin 5b in regulating plasma membrane recycling. These findings underline the importance of unravelling the cellular mechanisms of autophagocytosis of the apical membrane of enterocytes in MVID membranes with the ultimate goal of designing appropriate therapeutic measures in this context. In this proposal we will generate intestinal Caco-2 cells in which myosin 5b has been downregulated, depleted or modified and assess at the molecular and biochemical levels the consequences on the trafficking and targeting of a panel of brush border membrane proteins. We will further investigate the function of inhibitors of protein transport and polarized sorting as well as vesicular trafficking in myosin 5b-depleted Caco-2 cells as potentiators of brush border membrane rescue. The data gained from the cell culture model will be confirmed and expanded into intestinal organoids that will be generated from intestinal biopsy specimens of MVID patients. In this model we will address similar questions to those in the cellular model and identify targets for (i) preventing the formation of MVIBs and (ii) potential restoration of proper trafficking and sorting of intestinal protein markers and reducing carbohydrate malabsorption. The ultimate goal is to test inhibitors and modulators of these targets that are the least toxic for enterocytes. These substances would then represent suitable candidates for clinical trials in MVID patients. Substances like vincristine (cytostatic drugs) and chlorpromazine (neuroleptic drugs) are already approved drugs for treatment in children, yet not for the use in MVID.

Funding: Lionex GmbH, Braunschweig, 20.160 EUR

Project Details:
In the present project, the immunomodulatory property of purified proteins of Mycobacterium tuberculosis on the effect of neutrophils will be investigated. Lionex provides purified proteins for this purpose, which have been produced endotoxin-free. Based on the expertise on the antimicrobial effect and immunomodulatory effect of neutrophils, different assays will be performed at TiHo to characterize the effect of the proteins on neutrophils.

Results:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38124744/

Cooperation Partners:

Prof. Mahavir Singh, Lionex GmbH, Braunschweig

Prof. Rajko Reljic, St George's, University of London

Project Details:
Im Rahmen dieser Studie im Zentrum für E-Learning, Didaktik und
Ausbildungsforschung der Stiftung Tierärztliche Hochschule Hannover soll die
aufgrund der COVID-19-Pandemie eingesetzte hybride Form der universitären Lehre
auf ihre Nachhaltigkeit und die Übertragbarkeit auf vergleichbare Situationen
untersucht und mit der Lehre in einer rein digitalen Form sowie der reinen
Präsenzlehre verglichen werden. Im Fokus dieser Arbeit stehen das Wintersemester
2020/2021 sowie das Sommersemester 2021. Die hybride Form wird hier als
Kombination aus Präsenz- und digitaler Lehre definiert.

Results:

Naundorf, Hannah (2022): Untersuchung der Hybridsemester-Lehre während der COVID-19-Pandemie an der Stiftung Tierärztliche Hochschule Hannover.

Project Details:
Im Rahmen dieser Studie werden zum einen die An- und Herausforderungen untersucht, mit denen sich die Studierenden im Übergang in das Hochschulleben konfrontiert sehen.
Dazu soll im Besonderen erfasst werden, welche Ansprüche speziell das Studium der Veterinärmedizin in dieser Phase stellt. Zum anderen werden die bereits bestehenden Angebote untersucht, die das selbstregulierte Lernen der Studierenden fördern. Zusätzlich wird in dieser Arbeit weiterer Bedarf der Studierenden bezüglich der institutionellen Hilfestellung insbesondere in diesem Studienabschnitt ermittelt.

Results:

Zintl, Jana (2022): Untersuchungen zum selbstregulierten Lernen in der Studieneingangsphase der Veterinärmedizin an der Tierärztlichen Hochschule Hannover. Online unter: https://elib.tiho-hannover.de/receive/tiho_mods_00007949