„Praktizierter Naturschutz – Nützlich und schön“ - Partizipative Entwicklung eines ökologischen Nutzungs-konzeptes unter Naturschutzbedingungen -

The goal of this work was to develop a concept for the ecological and productive agricultural use of the private sites and the surrounding public areas, protected by nature conservation, on the inland island “Schöninsel” in Mecklenburg-Western-Pomerania. The challenge was to harmonize the interests of the property owner as well as concerned public groups, and to adjust the concept to requirements of nature conversation and natural and socioeconomic site factors. In all planning phases, permaculture principles and design methods were used. Practical planning was guided by the following goals: harmonization of aesthetic aspects and usefulness, preservation and enhancement of biodiversity, nature conservation, and raising awareness by environmental education. For the private area, a display vegetable garden combined with the cultivation of fruits and beekeeping is planned. For the public areas we recommend the creation of orchard meadows combined with grazing by the rare and endangered Pomeranian Coarsewool

The Effect of Current Trends in Mobile Marketing on Traditional Marketing Communications and Customer Relationship Management

As consumers increasingly prefer mobile devices as their main communication and entertainment channel, it becomes more and more important for marketers as well. Mobile marketing today does not only include sending SMS and E-mail but rather is becoming a whole new interactive, rich-media marketing channel with possibilities for direct engagement with ads and brands like never before. This research attempts to provide a greater understanding about the effects of current trends in mobile marketing on traditional marketing concepts and aims to point out those concepts of the marketing strategy that can be advanced by mobile marketing. The results suggest that when mobile marketing is being implemented into an organisation’s marketing strategy, the whole marketing strategy has to be considered, with all the coherences and interrelations between different elements. Relevance and usefulness for the consumer are even more important than in any other marketing concept. Also, the danger of being intrusive has to be considered and kept in mind while designing a mobile marketing strategy

Associations between dietary factors and obesity-related biomarkers in healthy children and adolescents - a systematic review

Background: The obesity prevalence in children and adolescents has increased worldwide during the past 30 years. Although diet has been identified as one risk factor for developing obesity in this age group, the role of specific dietary factors is still unclear. One way to gain insight into the role of these factors might be to detect biomarkers that reflect metabolic health and to identify the associations between dietary factors and these biomarkers. This would enable nutrition-related metabolic changes to be detected early in life, which might be a promising strategy to prevent childhood obesity. However, existing literature offers only inconclusive evidence for diet and some of these obesity-related biomarkers (e.g., blood lipids). We thus conducted a systematic literature review to further examine eligible studies that investigate associations between dietary factors and 12 obesity-related biomarkers in healthy children and adolescents aged 3-18 years. Methods: We searched the scientific databases PubMed/Medline and Web of Science Core Collection for potentially eligible articles. Our final literature search resulted in 2727 hits. After the selection process, we included 81 articles that reported on 1111 single observations on dietary factors and any of the obesity-related biomarkers. Results: Around 81% of the total observations showed nonsignificant results. For many biomarkers we did not find enough observations to draw clear conclusions on possible associations between a dietary factor and the respective biomarker. In cases where we identified enough observations, the results were contradictory. Since these nonsignificant and inconclusive findings may impede the development of effective strategies against childhood obesity, this article takes a closer look at possible reasons for such findings. In addition, it provides action points for future research efforts. Conclusions: In conclusion, current evidence on associations between dietary factors and obesity-related biomarkers is inconclusive. We thus provided an overview on which specific limitations may impede current research. Such knowledge is necessary to enable future research efforts to better elucidate the role of diet in the early stages of obesity development

Oxygen dynamics and transport in the Mediterranean sponge Aplysina aerophoba

The Mediterranean sponge Aplysina aerophoba kept in aquaria or cultivation tanks can stop pumping for several hours or even days. To investigate changes in the chemical microenvironments, we measured oxygen profiles over the surface and into the tissue of pumping and non-pumping A. aerophoba specimens with Clark-type oxygen microelectrodes (tip diameters 18–30 μm). Total oxygen consumption rates of whole sponges were measured in closed chambers. These rates were used to back-calculate the oxygen distribution in a finite-element model. Combining direct measurements with calculations of diffusive flux and modeling revealed that the tissue of non-pumping sponges turns anoxic within 15 min, with the exception of a 1 mm surface layer where oxygen intrudes due to molecular diffusion over the sponge surface. Molecular diffusion is the only transport mechanism for oxygen into non-pumping sponges, which allows total oxygen consumption rates of 6–12 μmol cm−3 sponge day−1. Sponges of different sizes had similar diffusional uptake rates, which is explained by their similar surface/volume ratios. In pumping sponges, oxygen consumption rates were between 22 and 37 μmol cm−3 sponge day−1, and the entire tissue was oxygenated. Combining different approaches of direct oxygen measurement in living sponges with a dynamic model, we can show that tissue anoxia is a direct function of the pumping behavior. The sponge-microbe system of A. aerophoba thus has the possibility to switch actively between aerobic and anaerobic metabolism by stopping the water flow for more than 15 min. These periods of anoxia will greatly influence physiological variety and activity of the sponge microbes. Detailed knowledge about the varying chemical microenvironments in sponges will help to develop protocols to cultivate sponge-associated microbial lineages and improve our understanding of the sponge-microbe-syste

Contextual influences on physical activity and eating habits -options for action on the community level

Background: This conceptual paper aims to illustrate the ways in which communities are able to advance health improvements on a population level. Outcome measures may include increased physical activity and healthier eating habits in particular, as well as an improved health-related quality of life and social cohesion as more generic outcomes. Main body: The paper begins by asking initial questions: Why did previous health-specific interventions only show moderate effects on an individual level and mixed effects on a population level? What is the added value of a community-based public health perspective compared to the traditional biomedical perspective when it comes to prevention? Why are we living the way we are living? Why do we eat what we eat? Why do we move the way we move? Subsequently, we illustrate the broad spectrum of contextual interventions available to communities. These can have geographical and technological as well as economic, political, normative and attitude-specific dimensions. It is shown that communities have a strong influence on health-related contexts and decision-making of adults, adolescents and children. In addition contextual characteristics, effects, mediators, moderators and consequences relevant for health can differ greatly between age groups. Both small-scale settings and overarching sectors possess physical, economic, political and sociocultural characteristics that can be proactively influenced by community decision-makers in the sense of a “health in all policies”-strategy. Short conclusion: After presenting various interdisciplinary approaches to community-based health interventions, the manuscript closes with the following core message: Successful community-based health promotion strategies consist of multilevel – multicomponent interventions on the micro, meso and macro-level-environments

The SCLtTAxBCR-ABL transgenic mouse model closely reflects the differential effects of dasatinib on normal and malignant hematopoiesis in chronic phase-CML patients

The second generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) dasatinib is a clinically approved drug for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) as well as Ph+ acute lymphoblastic leukemia. In addition to its antileukemic effects, dasatinib was shown to impact on normal hematopoiesis and cells of the immune system. Due to the fact that the murine in vivo studies so far have not been performed in a chronic-phase CML model under steady-state conditions, our aim was to study the hematopoietic effects of dasatinib (20 mg/kg p.o.) in BCR-ABL expressing SCLtTAxBCR-ABL double transgenic (dtg) mice. Dasatinib robustly antagonized the CML phenotype in vivo in our transgenic mouse model, and this effect included both mature and immature cell populations. However, similar to patients with CML, the fraction of Lin(neg)Sca-1(+)KIT(+)CD48(neg)CD150(+) hematopoietic stem cells was not reduced by dasatinib treatment, suggesting that these cells are not oncogene-addicted. Moreover, we observed differential effects of dasatinib in these animals as compared to wild-type (wt) animals: while granulocytes were significantly reduced in dtg animals, they were increased in wt mice. And Ter119(+) erythrocytic and B220(+) B cells were increased in dtg mice but decreased in wt mice. Finally, while dasatinib induced a shift from CD49b/NK1.1 positive NK cells from the bone marrow to the spleen in wt animals, there was no change in dtg mice. In conclusion, the present mouse model provides a useful tool to study mechanisms of TKI resistance and dasatinib-associated beneficial effects and adverse events.Peer reviewe

A systematic review of vitamin D status in populations worldwide

Vitamin D deficiency is associated with osteoporosis and is thought to increase the risk of cancer and CVD. Despite these numerous potential health effects, data on vitamin D status at the population level and within key subgroups are limited. The aims of the present study were to examine patterns of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels worldwide and to assess differences by age, sex and region. In a systematic literature review using the Medline and EMBASE databases, we identified 195 studies conducted in forty-four countries involving more than 168000 participants. Mean population-level 25(OH)D values varied considerably across the studies (range 4·9-136·2nmol/l), with 37·3% of the studies reporting mean values below 50nmol/l. The highest 25(OH)D values were observed in North America. Although age-related differences were observed in the Asia/Pacific and Middle East/Africa regions, they were not observed elsewhere and sex-related differences were not observed in any region. Substantial heterogeneity between the studies precluded drawing conclusions on overall vitamin D status at the population level. Exploratory analyses, however, suggested that newborns and institutionalised elderly from several regions worldwide appeared to be at a generally higher risk of exhibiting lower 25(OH)D values. Substantial details on worldwide patterns of vitamin D status at the population level and within key subgroups are needed to inform public health policy development to reduce risk for potential health consequences of an inadequate vitamin D statu

Role of contextual and compositional characteristics of schools for health inequalities in childhood and adolescence: protocol for a scoping review

Introduction: Childhood and adolescence are crucial life stages for health trajectories and the development of health inequalities in later life. The relevance of schools for health and well-being of children and adolescents has long been recognised, and there is some research regarding the association of contextual and compositional characteristics of schools and classes with health, health behaviour and well-being in this population. Little is known about the role of meso-level characteristics in relation to health inequalities. The aim of this scoping review is to retrieve and synthesise evidence about the mediating or moderating role of compositional or contextual characteristics of schools for the association between students' socioeconomic position and health in primary and secondary education. Methods and analysis We will conduct a systematic search of electronic databases in PubMed/Medline, Web of Science and Education Resources Information Center. Studies must meet the following inclusion criteria: (1) The population must be students attending primary or secondary schools in developed economies. (2) The outcomes must include at least one indicator for individual health, health behaviour or well-being. (3) The study must include at least one contextual or compositional characteristic of the school context and one individual determinant of socioeconomic position. (4) The study must also examine the mediating or moderating role of the contextual or compositional characteristic of the school context for the associations between socioeconomic position and health, health behaviour or well-being. (5) The study must be published since 1 January 2000 in English or German language. We will provide a narrative synthesis of findings. Ethics and dissemination We will not collect primary data and only include secondary data derived from previously published studies. Therefore, ethical approval is not required. We intend to publish our findings in an international peer-reviewed journal and to present them at national and international conferences

Age-Dependent Progression of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Syrian Hamsters

In late 2019, an outbreak of a severe respiratory disease caused by an emerging coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, resulted in high morbidity and mortality in infected humans. Complete understanding of COVID-19, the multi-faceted disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, requires suitable small animal models, as does the development and evaluation of vaccines and antivirals. Since age-dependent differences of COVID-19 were identified in humans, we compared the course of SARS-CoV-2 infection in young and aged Syrian hamsters. We show that virus replication in the upper and lower respiratory tract was independent of the age of the animals. However, older hamsters exhibited more pronounced and consistent weight loss. In situ hybridization in the lungs identified viral RNA in bronchial epithelium, alveolar epithelial cells type I and II, and macrophages. Histopathology revealed clear age-dependent differences, with young hamsters launching earlier and stronger immune cell influx than aged hamsters. The latter developed conspicuous alveolar and perivascular edema, indicating vascular leakage. In contrast, we observed rapid lung recovery at day 14 after infection only in young hamsters. We propose that comparative assessment in young versus aged hamsters of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines and treatments may yield valuable information, as this small-animal model appears to mirror age-dependent differences in human patients