Local food culture on the Greek island of Samothraki today and its traditional roots

Ziel dieser Masterarbeit war es, die Veränderung der Ernährungs- und Kochkultur im Rahmen des Konzepts der mediterranen Diät am Beispiel der griechischen Insel Samothraki zu untersuchen. Dazu wurden Charakteristika der lokal-traditionellen Ernährungskultur vor Ort durch qualitative Interviews sowie der Analyse eines Kochbuchs herausgearbeitet und mit Sekundärdaten einer aktuellen Ernährungserhebung sowie durchgeführten Interviews mit Gastronomiebetrieben verglichen, um die Verbreitung und mögliche Veränderung traditionell mediterraner Ernährungskonzepte in der heutigen Ernährungskultur sowohl im individuellen als auch im gastronomischen Bereich auf der Insel Samothraki sichtbar zu machen. Der Übergang von einer autarken, agrarischen hin zu einer importabhängigen, industriellen Tourismusregion ist auch in der Ernährungs- und Kochkultur der Insel spürbar. Trotz veränderter Bedingungen konnte ein vergleichsweise starker Einfluss von traditionellen Gepflogenheiten und Präferenzen auf verschiedenen Ebenen festgestellt werden, welcher sich lohnt, im kulturellen, gesundheitlichen, ökologischen und ökonomischen Sinne erhalten und ausgebaut zu werden.The aim of this master ́s thesis was to investigate the nutrition transition within the concept of the Mediterranean diet, using the example of the Greek island of Samothraki. For this purpose, characteristics of the local traditional food culture were identified by qualitative interviews and the analysis of a cookbook. These outcomes were furthermore compared with secondary data of a recent nutrition survey and information obtained from interviews with restaurant owners. The adherence to a traditional Mediterranean dietary pattern in today's food culture was investigated, both in the individual and in the gastronomic sector. The transition from a self-sufficient, agricultural to an import-dependent, industrial tourism region is also noticeable in the culinary culture of the island. Despite changed conditions, a comparatively strong influence of traditional customs and preferences on different levels could be observed, which is worth to be maintained and developed in a cultural, health, ecological and economic sense

Thiolated polymers: Stability of thiol moieties under different storage conditions

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the stability of thiolated polymers - so-called thiomers. A polycarbophil-cysteine conjugate and a chitosan-thioglycolic acid conjugate were chosen as representative anionic and cationic thiomer. The thiol group bearing compounds L-cysteine and thioglycolic acid were introduced to polycarbophil and chitosan, respectively with a coupling reaction mediated by a carbodiimide. The resulting thiolated polymers were freeze-dried and the amount of thiol groups on the thiomer was determined spectrophotometrically. Each kind of polymer was directly used or compressed into 1 mg matrix-tablets. Polymers were stored for a period of six months at four different storage conditions, namely at -20°C (56% relative humidity; RH), 4°C (53% RH), at 20°C (70% RH), and at 22°C (25% RH). Samples were taken after 6 months to determine the formation of disulfide bonds and the remaining thiol groups on the polymer. When the polycarbophil-cysteine and chitosan-thioglycolic acid conjugate were stored as powder a decrease of free thiol groups was observed only after storage at 20°C and 70% RH. Both polymers were found to be stable under all storage conditions when compressed into matrix tablets. The results provide the base for the use of thiomers as auxiliary agents in commercial products

Cell-Based Reporter Release Assay to Determine the Potency of Proteolytic Bacterial Neurotoxins

Despite the implementation of cell-based replacement methods, the mouse lethality assay is still frequently used to determine the activity of botulinum toxin (BoNT) for medical use. One explanation is that due to the use of neoepitope-specific antibodies to detect the cleaved BoNT substrate, the currently devised assays can detect only one specific serotype of the toxin. Recently, we developed a cell-based functional assay, in which BoNT activity is determined by inhibiting the release of a reporter enzyme that is liberated concomitantly with the neurotransmitter from neurosecretory vesicles. In theory, this assay should be suitable to detect the activity of any BoNT serotype. Consistent with this assumption, the current study shows that the stimulus-dependent release of a luciferase from a differentiated human neuroblastoma-based reporter cell line (SIMA-hPOMC1-26-GLuc cells) was inhibited by BoNT-A and-C. Furthermore, this was also inhibited by BoNT-B and tetanus toxin to a lesser extent and at higher concentrations. In order to provide support for the suitability of this technique in practical applications, a dose–response curve obtained with a pharmaceutical preparation of BoNT-A closely mirrored the activity determined in the mouse lethality assay. In summary, the newly established cell-based assay may represent a versatile and specific alternative to the mouse lethality assay and other currently established cell-based assays