Overview of research projects

Funding: Industry (Feed manifacturing) , 39.065 EUR

Project Details:
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Funding: Industry (Veterinary pharmaceuticals/Vaccines), 499.881 EUR

Project Details:
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Funding: DZIF, 200.000 EUR

Project Details:
Die Impfstoffentwicklung gegen COVID-19 ist von höchster Dringlichkeit, wofür es jedoch zunächst einiger prä-klinischer Experimente bedarf, bevor Studien im Menschen angewandt werden können. MVA-SARS-CoV-2 Impfstoffe sollen hierfür im Tiermodell auf Sicherheit und Immunogenität getestet werden. Dabei soll das Hamstermodell im Vordergrund stehen, da Hamster ein ähnlich aufgebautes ACE-2 Protein exprimieren und sich darüber hinaus schon in der SARS-CoV-1 Forschung als Tiermodell bewährt haben.

Funding: Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, 49.945 EUR

Project Details:
Modul 1: Online-Betreuungsmodul im Lernmanagementsystem Moodle
- Moderiertes Forum und online-Frage-Sprechstunden
- Studierende können Fallbeispiele aus ihrem Praktikum hochladen, die vom Betreuer geprüft und beantwortet, kommentiert und dann bei Eignung dem gesamten Kurs zur Verfügung gestellt werden
- Selbstlernangebot durch Bereitstellung von begleitenden Materialien (Skript, Gesetzestexte, Bildmaterial, Fallbeispiele, Anleitung zur Reflexion und Achtsamkeit und zu Resilienztraining)
Modul 2: Offline-Betreuungsmodul unter anderem vor Ort im Schlachthof
-Fokusgruppengespräch mit Studierenden (Bedarfsermittlung)
-Besuch der Studierenden in ihren Praktikumsstätten über einen Zeitraum von 8 Monaten (diverse Schlachthöfe)
-Leitfadengestützte Interviews mit Studierenden im Schlachthof (Situationen und Fragestellungen werden aufgearbeitet und dokumentiert)

Funding: Drittmittelprojekt, gefördert durch die Dr. Eberhard Lienhop Stiftung., 9.600 EUR

Project Details:
Within this project, silages are investigated as a potential source of Listeria monocytogenes entering the food chain. Different silages are collected and classified chemically and sensorically. Subsequently, the silages are analyzed for the occurrence of pathogenic and apathogenic Listeria spp. Additionally Listeria-specific bacteriophages are isolated. Aim of the study is the characterization of the matrix silage as well as testing the efficacy and stability of individual bacteriophages against Listeria field strains in vitro.

Results:

Publikationen:

1. Poster Abstract: Nievert L, Becker A, Kittler S, Plötz M, Visscher C Untersuchungen zur Silagequalität und -mikrobiologie in norddeutschen Rinderbetrieben.61. Arbeitstagung des Arbeitsgebietes Lebensmittelsicherheit und Verbraucherschutz 2021, Garmisch-Patenkirchen

Project Details:
Ex-vivo-Modelle vereinen die Vorteile von In-vitro Methoden und In-vivo Forschung ohne dabei einen Tierversuch durchführen zu müssen und berücksichtigen so das 3R- Prinzip. Seit Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts werden diese Modelle immer mehr auch bei Großtierarten erforscht und genutzt. In Ermangelung eines Modells für equine Uteri, soll im Rahmen dieses Projektes ein solches Modell erarbeitet und etabliert werden.

Cooperation Partners:

Institut für Veterinär-Pathologie, Universität Leipzig

Funding: Bundesamt für Naturschutz BfN, 655.984 EUR

Project Details:
The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), becoming effective in 2008, aims to achieve and preserve a transnational Europe-wide good environmental status of the oceans.
The marine utilisation by humans needs to be configured sustainably without endangering the natural basis of life for marine flora and fauna. The Marine Strategy Framework Directive descriptors shall assist with the assessment of the European marine status.
Criteria and methodical standards for the description of a good environmental status were defined within those, which require an implementation within a standardised monitoring as well as research projects in Germany. This projects aims to accomplish contributions to the environmental objectives "derivation and application of biological limits for the effect of underwater noise on relevant species" and "development and application of noise mitigation measures for the North and Baltic Seas" with cooperation partners in several work packages.
The work packages intended for this project close knowledge gaps for grey seals and fish, enabling the determination of biological limits for the effect of underwater noise on those animal groups.

Determination of underwater auditory thresholds of two grey seals kept in human care for the derivation of the limit for effect of underwater noise. In order to assess the grey seals´ underwater auditory ability, a standardised experimental assembly and procedure is ensured.
Two available North Sea fish species will be divided into three test groups in this work package. One control group will not be treated with acoustic noise, one exposition group will be exposed to loud acoustic noise for a short time period and another one will be exposed to the same acoustic energy, but with a lower sound pressure level over a longer time period. The knowledge gained from this study can be used for the determination of limits, from which fish may be disturbed in their behaviour. Thereby, the results can be distinguished by acoustic energy over a short time period or a cumulative acoustic immission over a longer time period.
Assessment of effects of underwater sound emitting anthropogenic activities on harbour porpoises, seals and fish. Development of recommendation for noise abatement measures for ships and other anthropogenic noise sources based on the work package results from grey seals and fish as well as contemporary scientific publications about the impact of anthropogenic sound immissions.

Results:

Effects of amplitude and duration of noise exposure on the hearing and anti-predator behaviour of common roach (Rutilus rutilus) and sand goby (Pomatoschistus minutus)

https://pubs.aip.org/asa/jasa/article/154/2/671/2905705

Cooperation Partners:

Marine Biological Research Center, University of Southern Denmark, Odense

National Marine Mammal Foundation, San Diego CA, USA

Funding: MELUND Schleswig-Holstein, 157.816 EUR

Project Details:
The Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) has almost been exterminated in Schleswig-Holstein as well as major parts of the rest of Germany in the past century. Since the 1990s, the species is increasing again in this area due to official protection and habitat improvement. Human interests oppose the expansion of the Eurasian otter population. Water quality, habitat use or fisheries are potential points of conflict. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate all parameters, which impact a resettlement on a long-term basis. A comprehensive basic knowledge about the population is the foundation for a long-term and scientifically sound Eurasian otter management. This especially includes health investigations like the prevalence of infectious diseases, the assessment of causes of death, potential exposure to pollutants and pharmaceutical substances, reproduction biology, genetics and preferred prey spectrum. A profound investigation protocol for Eurasian otters shall be established within the framework of this project. It will be developed in the context of a strategic dead animal monitoring in cooperation with project partners and contains the most important parameters regarding causes of death, health status and biological basic data.
Samples shall be stored for pollutant, pharmaceutical substance and prey spectrum analyses in order to investigate them in subsequent projects.

Results:

https://www.tiho-hannover.de/fileadmin/57_79_terr_aqua_Wildtierforschung/79_Buesum/downloads/Berichte/Fischotterbericht_MELUND_2019-21.pdf

Cooperation Partners:

Landesamt für Landwirtschaft, Umwelt und ländliche Räume

Zoologisches Institut, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel

Funding: DFG, 299.250 EUR

Project Details:
At the level of research and therapy, human and veterinary medicine are closely interlinked. However, this hardly applies to the ethical discussions about the sensible use of available diagnostics, drugs and techniques in human and veterinary medicine. This is surprising, as pets have become so-called "family members". Experiences with sick and dying animals presumably have an effect on treatment decisions in human medicine (and vice versa). The project deals with this relationship between moral and ethical issues in human and veterinary medicine using the example of treatment decisions at the end of life. Firstly, this will be investigated at the level of descriptive ethics: How do experiences in dealing with moribund animals influence decisions on therapeutic goals in humans? To what extent are moral premises from human medicine reflected in the treatment of dying animals? Secondly, this is investigated at the level of normative ethics: What principles, goods and values do the ethical discourses in veterinary and human medicine draw on in equal measure? How do they differ fundamentally or in terms of weighting? To what extent are concepts such as dignity or humanity used metaphorically, analogically, univocally, etc.? Thirdly, this is examined at the level of metaethics: How are the disciplines of medical ethics and animal ethics related?Are they two aspects of a common bioethics?Are they two largely independent areas of ethics?What does this mean for the understanding of
medical, animal and natural ethics?The demarcation and entanglement of animal and medical ethics will thus be exemplified for the end of life, and convergent, divergent and/or time-delayed developments in morality, normative ethics and metaethics will be worked out.The studies will contribute to the understanding of possibly divergent assessments in everyday morality, clinical ethics counseling and moral philosophy.

Results:

The early decision to abandon the parallel investigation of human and veterinary medicine and medical ethics categories envisaged in the application had a formative influence on the course of the project. It quickly became clear: Medically, many end-of-life measures are not comparable on closer inspection: in terms of medical ethics, animals represent a different type of patient than consenting adult humans. Only marginal cases are comparable here. The project has therefore focused on those areas in which genuine convergences can be observed that can be implicitly and explicitly named.

The conceptual considerations in the first part of the project highlighted in particular the convergences from the fields of euthanasia (for humans and animals) and hospice (also for both patient groups), which at first glance appear contradictory, are currently being discussed anew and could be given greater significance in human and veterinary medical training and professional practice.

 

In a practical part of the project, a cross-disciplinary focus group study was carried out.It clearly showed that human and veterinary medicine can learn from each other and benefit from an exchange on end-of-life issues and that there are still common challenges despite the differences between patients.At the same time, dividing lines became clear, particularly when it came to the issue of actively killing patients and the associated ethical, personal and technical challenges.

In a further quantitative study, the context dependency of certain ethical evaluation schemes was examined, such as what is legally permitted or technically possible, but also the extent to which factors such as age, illness, state of consciousness or autonomy play a role in end-of-life decisions for human and animal patients - both from the perspective of medical laypersons and the professional groups involved. Here, too, it became clear that marginal cases in particular are used for comparison with animal patients and that pluralistic views on questions of ageing and a good death can be found for humans and animals.

Cooperation Partners:

Institut für Geschichte, Ethik und Philosophie der Medizin, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover,

Dr. Gerald Neitzke

Funding: Gesellschaft zur Förderung des Tierwohls in der Nutztierhaltung mbH, 256.094 EUR

Project Details:
Die frühzeitige Erkennung von verletzten Tieren ist ein Schlüsselfaktor im Management zum Vorbeugen von Kannibalismus in der Putenhaltung. Eine kontinuierliche Überwachung der Herde wäre für ein zeitnahes Eingreifen vorteilhaft. Ziel dieses Projektes ist es daher, ein kamerabasiertes Früherkennungssystem zu entwickeln, um erste Anzeichen von Kannibalismus-Verletzungen zu detektieren, verletzte Einzeltiere zu erkennen und einen entsprechenden Alarm beim Betreuer/Halter auszulösen, der dann schnellstmöglich mit geeigneten Maßnahmen in der Haltung reagieren kann. Es soll untersucht werden, inwieweit Part-Detection-Netzwerke in der Lage sind, Verletzungen zu identifizieren und zu lokalisieren. Part-Detection-Netzwerke erzeugen Pixelmasken, welche die ungefähre Position und Ausdehnung von dem gesuchten Merkmal im Eingabebild markieren. Als Ausgabe können die Netzwerke dann auf dem Kamerabild einzelne Bildbereiche hervorheben, in denen die gelernten Merkmale zu sehen sind. Diese Bereiche können dann ggf. noch weiter klassifiziert werden, um die Wahrscheinlichkeit einer Falschdetektion zu verringern.

Cooperation Partners:

Insititut für Multimediale Informationsverarbeitung, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel