Protective measures and H5N1-seroprevalence among personnel tasked with bird collection during an outbreak of avian influenza A/H5N1 in wild birds, Ruegen, Germany, 2006

Background: In Germany, the first outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza A/H5N1 occurred among wild birds on the island of Ruegen between February and April 2006. The aim of this study was to investigate the use of recommended protective measures and to measure H5N1- seroprevalence among personnel tasked with bird collection. Methods: Inclusion criteria of our study were participation in collecting wild birds on Ruegen between February and March 2006. Study participants were asked to complete a questionnaire, and to provide blood samples. For evaluation of the use of protective measures, we developed a personal protective equipment (PPE)-score ranging between 0 and 9, where 9 corresponds to a consistent and complete use of PPE. Sera were tested by plaque neutralization (PN) and microneutralization (MN) assays. Reactive sera were reanalysed in the World Health Organization- Collaborating Centre (WHO-CC) using MN assay. Results: Of the eligible personnel, consisting of firemen, government workers and veterinarians, 61% (97/154) participated in the study. Of those, 13% reported having always worn all PPE-devices during bird collection (PPE-score: 9). Adherence differed between firemen (mean PPE-score: 6.6) and government workers (mean PPE-score: 4.5; p = 0.006). The proportion of personnel always adherent to wearing PPE was lowest for masks (19%). Of the participants, 18% had received seasonal influenza vaccination prior to the outbreak. There were no reports of influenza-like illness. Five sera initially H5-reactive by PN assay were negative by WHO-CC confirmatory testing. Conclusion: Gaps and variability in adherence demonstrate the risk of exposure to avian influenza under conditions of wild bird collection, and justify serological testing and regular training of task personnel

THE STATUS OF THE COMMON CRANE (\u3ci\u3eGRUS GRUS\u3c/i\u3e) IN EUROPE - BREEDING, RESTING, MIGRATION, WINTERING, AND PROTECTION

At present, about 160,000 and 100,000 cranes are migrating on the West-European and on the Baltic-Hungarian routes, respectively, from the northern, middle, and northeastern parts of Europe. On both routes, the resting maxima, simultaneously determined since the 1980’s, has increased three-fold. This increase in migratory cranes is the result of shorter migration routes with higher return rates, a growing passage from the northwestern part of Russia beginning in the 1990’s, and a protected status in the European Union at breeding as well as at many resting and wintering sites. Hence, the cranes learn to find and use new breeding and resting locations. Further changes in the migratory behaviour are a 2 to 4 weeks earlier return of the brood-birds in spring and a likewise delayed departure of the last crane groups in autumn. Wintering locations in Western Europe have been shifted to the north: in 1980/81 some 100 cranes wintered in France, whereas in 2000/2001 there were about 68,000 birds doing so. In several European countries there are working groups for the protection of cranes. Every year, the German group organizes an internal meeting to co-ordinate activities. Its mostly honorary members supervise the protection of the breeding and resting places over the whole country. About 50 autumn resting places with 200 up to 50,000 cranes at maximum, are systematically watched by the experts. The state co-ordinator enters the data obtained into an annual synopsis. A survey of crane resting in Germany over 25 years is available. The European Crane Working Group co-ordinates the protective strategies, data acquisition, and ringing of birds. It supports public relations, the exchange of information, scientific research, and European Crane Workshops. The positive development of the crane population in Europe is the result of the cooperation of all parties concerned. It convincingly shows that intense cultivation of the land can be consistent with successful execution of essential protective measures

Review of Ruegen herring larvae survey project 2011

At the request of the Johann Heinrich von Thünen Institut (vTI), IOR Rostock, a return review of the German Rügen herring larval survey (RHLS) project took place on the 24th to 26th January 2011, following on from a similar review in November 2006. Mark Dickey-Collas (Wageningen IMARES) and Richard D.M. Nash (IMR, Norway) lead the review. This report represents the opinions of these two external reviewers. The current aim of the programme is to maintain and develop the time series of ichthyoplankton surveys in the spring and summer in the Greifswalder Bodden and stimulate spin off research. The review was designed to address the role of the survey in the framework of providing both management advice and research outputs. The external reviewers were given documents on the current survey. They also viewed presentations from research students and staff on their work and the proposed direction of the programme. The review included a “brainstorming” session on future research and potential gaps in the project

The Impact of Digital Transformation on Regional Labour Markets in Germany: Substitution Potentials of Occupational Tasks

The digital transformation may have large impact on the labour market. In order to determine the extent to which occupational tasks are currently replaceable by computers or computer-controlled machines, Dengler and Matthes (2015b, 2018b, 2018a) calculated substitution potentials of occupations. In this paper, we investigate the impact of digital transformation on different regions in Germany by analysing substitution potentials of occupational tasks on two different regional levels: administrative districts and regional labour markets. On the level of districts, it becomes clear that urban service centres and some rural areas have a much lower share of employees working in a highly substitutable occupation compared with manufacturing regions. In many cases, low and high values cancel each other out within regional labour markets. Nevertheless, the values still range from 15 to 38 percent. In high value regions, close monitoring of future labour market developments and (further) education appear to be of particular importance to meet the challenges of the digital transformation

A queer orientation: the sexual geographies of modernism 1913-1939

Historicising the geography of sexuality within the milieu of literary modernism, the subject of this thesis is the relationship between queerness, space and place as mediated by modernist texts. Focusing on the work of E. M. Forster, H.D., Katharine Burdekin and Christopher Isherwood, the thesis aims to examine the impact that the taxonomizing of sexual orientations in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries has on the textual geographies of modernist literature. Though the relationship between modernism, space and place has been well mined by critics, scholarship has yet to produce a sustained inquiry into the imbrication of queer subjectivity and modernist geographies. The purpose of this thesis is, therefore, to make an interjection that offers a queer reading of the modernist relationship with space and place. After beginning with a theoretical unpacking of the generative term ‘sexual orientation’, Chapter One engages with the queer inheritance of the Oscar Wilde trial and its shaping effect on Forster’s Maurice (1971), widely recognised as one of the first homosexual novels. Following this, Chapter Two turns inwards to examine the relationship between psychoanalysis and the queer subject in H.D.’s short stories ‘Kora and Ka’ (1934) and ‘Mira-Mare’ (1934), works which straddle the analysis that the poet undertook with Sigmund Freud in 1933. Akin to this, Chapter Three examines the relationship between Burdekin and Havelock Ellis, positioning that the novels Proud Man (1934) and Swastika Night (1937) fold together sexuality and space through eugenic thinking. Finally, Chapter Four traces the ends of queer modernist geographies in Isherwood’s early novels All the Conspirators (1928), Mr Norris Changes Trains (1935) and Goodbye to Berlin (1939). Tempering the discourse of sexology and psychoanalysis with a critical theory approach, these chapters offer an account of the rich and diverse ways that the pluralistic categorisation of queerness shapes textual geographies in the 1913-1939 period

Doctor Faustus: The Battle of a Lifetime (1996 program)

Performed September 13-14, 1996. Cast:Cyrano DeBergerac: Robin MillerDr. Faustus: Henry McDaniel IIIRobin Hood, Valvert, Inigo Montoya: Paul HeubnerLittle John, DeGuiche: Anthony TaylorLucifer, Count Ruegen: Ben JonesMephistopheles: Ellen JonesShades: Eve Clevenger, Melody Colyer, Heather Holder, Dena Jones, Jaimie Murphy, and Emily Shepherdhttps://scholarworks.harding.edu/theatre-history/1176/thumbnail.jp

Chances and Limitations of Wild Bird Monitoring for the Avian Influenza Virus H5N1 — Detection of Pathogens Highly Mobile in Time and Space

Highly pathogenic influenza virus (HPAIV) H5N1 proved to be remarkably mobile in migratory bird populations where it has led to extensive outbreaks for which the true number of affected birds usually cannot be determined. For the evaluation of avian influenza monitoring and HPAIV early warning systems, we propose a time-series analysis that includes the estimation of confidence intervals for (i) the prevalence in outbreak situations or (ii) in the apparent absence of disease in time intervals for specified regional units. For the German outbreak regions in 2006 and 2007, the upper 95% confidence limit allowed the detection of prevalences below 1% only for certain time intervals. Although more than 25,000 birds were sampled in Germany per year, the upper 95% confidence limit did not fall below 5% in the outbreak regions for most of the time. The proposed analysis can be used to monitor water bodies and high risk areas, also as part of an early-warning system. Chances for an improved targeting of the monitoring system as part of a risk-based approach are discussed with the perspective of reducing sample sizes

Boston University Symphony Orchestra, March 1, 1988

This is the concert program of the Boston University Symphony Orchestra performance on Tuesday, March 1, 1988 at 8:00 p.m., at Symphony Hall, 301 Massachusetts Avenue. Works performed were SYmphony No. 87 in A major by Franz Joseph Haydn, Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 63 by Sergei Prokofiev, and Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73 by Johannes Brahms. Digitization for Boston University Concert Programs was supported by the Boston University Humanities Library Endowed Fund