#University of Greifswald

[materialsscienceandengineering]

Degradation of plastic waste using newly developed biocatalysts

The plastic materials polyurethane and polyvinyl alcohol can now be degraded under mild conditions with the help of enzymes as biocatalysts.

Scientists from the University of Greifswald have developed corresponding methods together with the German company Covestro and teams from Leipzig and Dublin, as recently published in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition in two separate articles. It has thus been possible to establish a sustainable and environmentally-friendly process to recycle these polymers.

This helps to address the worldwide problem of plastic waste based on the example of these two synthetic polymers, which are produced industrially at large scale.

Plastics are currently indispensable for the production of construction materials, electric insulation, drinks and food packaging, textiles and many more applications. Unfortunately, the mass production of synthetic polymers, especially for packaging materials, has led to an enormous waste problem for the environment. The polymers polyurethane and polyvinyl alcohol contribute to approximately 8 percent of the European plastic production.

Read more.

[garadinervi]

Philipp Goldbach, University of Greifswald, Department of Psychology, (c-print, diasec, 125x156,3 cm), 2009 [© Philipp Goldbach]

[backsideattackkkk]

quick info: ziad jarrah - "the indecisive terrorist"

the video shown above was recorded around a year and a half before the 9/11 attacks, from the start of the investigation after the terrorist attack jarrah was always termed as an “odd fit” for al-qaeda. he was born in lebanon, and educated in christian schools. 

jarrah was described as ‘outgoing’. in his college years was known to frequent discos and drink beer, he even had a german girlfriend (the two lived together. this was of-course against radical muslims thinking and behavior and acceptance). he’d been reported to have backed out of the plan at-least more than once, and even at the last minute. 

jarrah was constantly traveling back and forth between florida and the german ruhr area. on several occasions he had to placate his wife who suspected jarrah had another girlfriend in the u.s.

mohamed atta (hijacker of flight 11) had repeatedly admonished jarrah to concentrate on his task. jarrah did also fly out to lebanon to see his dying father some months before the attacks, which atta protested against his doing because he thought it would fuck up his reentry stamps on his passport and alarm the FBI.

"While the other terrorists were preparing for the attacks in Florida Jarrah was trying to overcome his marital problems in Germany," says a newspaper report.

during this time there were several telephone crisis meetings in the "terror triangle" florida - germany - afghanistan.

in november 2001 his wife received a package from jarrah. inside was his diving license a certificate from his first solo flight in america and a postcard showing two empty beach chairs by the sea. the back reads, "your place with me is...I love you, I hug you, ziad jarrah." the text ends with, "your husband forever". (the two were not married, but had discussed getting married).

he would also write a letter to her a day before 9/11 (I believe the original was in german):

in april 1996, ziad jarrah leaves lebanon for greifswald, germany, where he studies german for two semesters before qualifying to take other university courses.

after a year in griefswald, jarrah continues his studies at the university of applied science in hamburg, where he stays until 1999 (during his time in germany is considered when he becomes radicalized).

Ziad Jarrah’s landlady, Rosemarie Canel on Jarrah: Question: “Did you like him?” Canel: “Yes, he was a nice young man really, and we got along well. He used to bring me back presents too when he went home. Sometimes we would chat while I was having tea, and I would invite him to have tea with me.”

within a few months of arriving in hamburg he would change. his landlady had noticed “small changes” about him, such as keeping a prayer mat in his room, and growing a beard. around this time jarrah had started going to al-quds mosque with marwan al-shehhi (hijacker of flight 175) and atta.

In the summer of 1997, atta disappears from his university for over a year, giving only a vague explanation for his absence. western intelligence has established that atta traveled to afghanistan, to the camps of al-qaeda. he is followed by al-shehhi and jarrah.

however, the main thing that stood out about jarrah was that: in comparison to the other hijackers he hadn't completely broken off attachment to his families or relationships. he regularly visited his family and girlfriend until the end.

[blueiskewl]

Medieval Curse Tablet Summoning Satan Discovered in Germany

In Germany, archaeologists have found a rolled-up piece of lead that they believe might be a medieval “curse tablet” calling upon “Beelzebub,” also known as Satan.

At first sight, the researchers believed the “unremarkable piece of metal” was just discarded material. This conclusion was drawn because the item was discovered at the base of a latrine at a construction site in Rostock, a city in northern Germany, as stated in a translated document.

Artifact containing a curse summoning Satan and evil spirits

Nevertheless, when they unfolded it, archaeologists discovered that the 15th-century artifact bore a mysterious message inscribed in Gothic minuscule, which was barely discernible without close inspection. The message read, “sathanas taleke belzebuk hinrik berith.”

The researchers interpreted the text as a curse aimed at a woman named Taleke and a man named Hinrik (Heinrich). The curse invoked Beelzebub (another name for Satan) and Berith (a demonic spirit). Without a close examination, the mysterious message would not have been identified.

Even though the researchers may never uncover the identities of Taleke and Heinrich, they have suggested possible reasons for the animosity.

In their statement, the researchers pondered whether someone wanted to disrupt Taleke and Heinrich’s connection or if this was driven by rejected love and jealousy, with someone trying to interfere.

Similar curse tablets discovered from Greek and Roman sites

The archaeologists emphasized the uniqueness of their discovery. Jörg Ansorge, an archaeologist from the University of Greifswald in Germany leading the excavation, highlighted this point.

He stated that this finding is exceptional, especially considering that similar ‘curse tablets‘ are well-documented from ancient times in the Greek and Roman regions spanning from 800 B.C. to A.D. 600.

Ansorge provided examples to illustrate the historical context. He mentioned a 1,500-year-old lead tablet discovered in what is now Israel, inscribed in Greek, invoking demons to harm a rival dancer.

Additionally, he referred to 2,400-year-old tablets found in Greece that sought the intervention of underworld gods to target several tavern keepers. Ansorge remarked, “Our discovery, on the other hand, can be dated to the 15th century.” “This is truly a very special find.”

The researchers weren’t taken aback to locate the artifact in a latrine. They explained that curse tablets were strategically placed in obscure locations, like the bottom of latrines, intentionally making them hard or even impossible to find. This ensured that those who were cursed couldn’t easily uncover the tablets.

Love Magic in Ancient Greece and Rome

The practice of magic with spells, charms, erotic dolls was widespread in ancient Greece and Rome. Although it was discouraged and sometimes even punished in antiquity, it thrived all the same. Authorities publicly condemned it but tended to ignore its powerful hold.

By Nisha Zahid.

[bpod-bpod]

Stretcher Bearer

A protein called zyxin is important for the function of kidneys – it translates the mechanical forces experienced by podocytes [specialised cells of the kidney ], for example stretched by hypertension, acting to stabilise them

Read the published research article here

Image from work by Felix Kliewe and colleagues

Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany

Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Published in Communications Biology, April 2024

You can also follow BPoD on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook

[covenawhite66]

104 manuscript volumes from the Greifswald Ministry of Spirituality

55 volumes from the holdings of the Greifswald University Library

The political, religious, and economic leadership of the Middle Rhine region during the Middle Ages resulted in a flourishing manuscript production.

The archives are from the German cities of Speyer, Worms and Mainz. Books are from as early as the 9th Century AD/CE.

There has been some damage to the library from the French Revolution and Wars of the Modern Era.

Welcome to the Digital Library Mecklenburg-Vorpommern!

The Digital Library Mecklenburg-Vorpommern presents cross-disciplinary collections from archives, libraries, museums and universities in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

https://www.digitale-bibliothek-mv.de/viewer/index/

[notwiselybuttoowell]

A leading discount supermarket in Germany has raised the prices of a selection of its products to reflect their real cost on people’s health and the environment.

In a week-long experiment in all 2,150 branches of the Penny chain, a range of nine products, mainly dairy and meat, will be priced at what experts from two universities have deemed to be their true cost, in relation to their effect on soil, climate, water use and health.

The “wahre Kosten” or “real costs” campaign has seen the price of wiener sausages rise from €3.19 to €6.01, mozzarella go up by 74% to €1.55, and fruit yoghurt increase by 31% from €1.19 to €1.56.

The awareness promotion week is taking place in conjunction with academics from the Nuremberg Institute of Technology and the University of Greifswald, and was triggered by the conviction among consumer researchers that price tags in supermarkets in no way reflect the true environmental or long-term health costs of producing the foodstuffs and getting them on to retailers’ shelves.

Included are a range of foods from cheese and other dairy products to processed meats such as sausages, as well as vegan meat replacements such as vegan schnitzels (which were given a moderate 5% increase). Wiener sausages and the popular maasdamer cheese, which has risen by 94% to €4.84, are among the items to go up most in price. Regarding the cheese, the scientists calculated hidden costs of 85 cents for climate-harming emissions such as methane and CO2, as well as 76 cents for damage to the soil from intensive farming and animal feed production, 63 cents for the effect of pesticides used, including their impact on the health of farmers, as well as 10 cents for pollution of groundwater through the use of fertiliser.

The discounter has said it will donate the excess proceeds it makes from the sales, without commenting on whether it was prepared to take a knock in profits. The charity Zukunftsbauer or Future Farmer, which supports family-run farms in Alpine regions, many of which are increasingly struggling to survive amid low returns or sometimes even making losses on their produce, will be the beneficiary.

[mybeingthere]

Norbert Schwontkowski (1949 – 2013) studied painting at the University of the Arts in Bremen and the University of Fine Arts Hamburg. Following teaching positions in Hamburg, Bremen, and Greifswald and a position as a guest lecturer in Braunschweig, he was appointed professor of painting at the University of Fine Arts Hamburg in 2005.

"Norbert Schwontkowski applied his inexhaustible pictorial inventiveness both to fundamental questions of the human condition and to the absurdity of daily life. He possessed a virtuoso command of insinuation and the surreal. His humorous images always appear to be poised at the edge of an abyss."

https://www.kunsthalle-bremen.de/.../schwontkowski-2020

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Brightest gamma-ray burst of all time came from the collapse of a massive star

In October 2022, an international team of researchers, including Northwestern University astrophysicists, observed the brightest gamma-ray burst (GRB) ever recorded, GRB 221009A.

Now, a Northwestern-led team has confirmed that the phenomenon responsible for the historic burst — dubbed the B.O.A.T. (“brightest of all time”) — is the collapse and subsequent explosion of a massive star. The team discovered the explosion, or supernova, using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). 

While this discovery solves one mystery, another mystery deepens. 

The researchers speculated that evidence of heavy elements, such as platinum and gold, might reside within the newly uncovered supernova. The extensive search, however, did not find the signature that accompanies such elements. The origin of heavy elements in the universe continues to remain as one of astronomy’s biggest open questions.

The research will be published on Friday (April 12) in the journal Nature Astronomy.

“When we confirmed that the GRB was generated by the collapse of a massive star, that gave us the opportunity to test a hypothesis for how some of the heaviest elements in the universe are formed,” said Northwestern’s Peter Blanchard, who led the study. “We did not see signatures of these heavy elements, suggesting that extremely energetic GRBs like the B.O.A.T. do not produce these elements. That doesn’t mean that all GRBs do not produce them, but it’s a key piece of information as we continue to understand where these heavy elements come from. Future observations with JWST will determine if the B.O.A.T.’s ‘normal’ cousins produce these elements.”

Blanchard is a postdoctoral fellow at Northwestern’s Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA), where he studies superluminous supernovae and GRBs. The study includes co-authors from the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian; University of Utah; Penn State; University of California, Berkeley; Radbound University in the Netherlands; Space Telescope Science Institute; University of Arizona/Steward Observatory; University of California, Santa Barbara; Columbia University; Flatiron Institute; University of Greifswald and the University of Guelph.

Birth of the B.O.A.T.

When its light washed over Earth on Oct. 9, 2022, the B.O.A.T. was so bright that it saturated most of the world’s gamma-ray detectors. The powerful explosion occurred approximately 2.4 billion light-years away from Earth, in the direction of the constellation Sagitta and lasted a few hundred seconds in duration. As astronomers scrambled to observe the origin of this incredibly bright phenomenon, they were immediately hit with a sense of awe.

“As long as we have been able to detect GRBs, there is no question that this GRB is the brightest we have ever witnessed by a factor of 10 or more,” Wen-fai Fong, an associate professor of physics and astronomy at Northwestern’s Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and member of CIERA, said at the time.

“The event produced some of the highest-energy photons ever recorded by satellites designed to detect gamma rays,” Blanchard said. “This was an event that Earth sees only once every 10,000 years. We are fortunate to live in a time when we have the technology to detect these bursts happening across the universe. It’s so exciting to observe such a rare astronomical phenomenon as the B.O.A.T. and work to understand the physics behind this exceptional event.”

A ‘normal’ supernova

Rather than observe the event immediately, Blanchard, his close collaborator Ashley Villar of Harvard University and their team wanted to view the GRB during its later phases. About six months after the GRB was initially detected, Blanchard used the JWST to examine its aftermath.

“The GRB was so bright that it obscured any potential supernova signature in the first weeks and months after the burst,” Blanchard said. “At these times, the so-called afterglow of the GRB was like the headlights of a car coming straight at you, preventing you from seeing the car itself. So, we had to wait for it to fade significantly to give us a chance of seeing the supernova.”

Blanchard used the JWST’s Near Infrared Spectrograph to observe the object’s light at infrared wavelengths. That’s when he saw the characteristic signature of elements like calcium and oxygen typically found within a supernova. Surprisingly, it wasn’t exceptionally bright — like the incredibly bright GRB that it accompanied.

“It’s not any brighter than previous supernovae,” Blanchard said. “It looks fairly normal in the context of other supernovae associated with less energetic GRBs. You might expect that the same collapsing star producing a very energetic and bright GRB would also produce a very energetic and bright supernova. But it turns out that's not the case. We have this extremely luminous GRB, but a normal supernova.”

Missing: Heavy elements

After confirming — for the first time — the presence of the supernova, Blanchard and his collaborators then searched for evidence of heavy elements within it. Currently, astrophysicists have an incomplete picture of all the mechanisms in the universe that can produce elements heavier than iron.

The primary mechanism for producing heavy elements, the rapid neutron capture process, requires a high concentration of neutrons. So far, astrophysicists have only confirmed the production of heavy elements via this process in the merger of two neutron stars, a collision detected by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) in 2017. But scientists say there must be other ways to produce these elusive materials. There are simply too many heavy elements in the universe and too few neutron-star mergers.

“There is likely another source,” Blanchard said. “It takes a very long time for binary neutron stars to merge. Two stars in a binary system first have to explode to leave behind neutron stars. Then, it can take billions and billions of years for the two neutron stars to slowly get closer and closer and finally merge. But observations of very old stars indicate that parts of the universe were enriched with heavy metals before most binary neutron stars would have had time to merge. That’s pointing us to an alternative channel.”

Astrophysicists have hypothesized that heavy elements also might be produced by the collapse of a rapidly spinning, massive star — the exact type of star that generated the B.O.A.T. Using the infrared spectrum obtained by the JWST, Blanchard studied the inner layers of the supernova, where the heavy elements should be formed.  

“The exploded material of the star is opaque at early times, so you can only see the outer layers,” Blanchard said. “But once it expands and cools, it becomes transparent. Then you can see the photons coming from the inner layer of the supernova.”

“Moreover, different elements absorb and emit photons at different wavelengths, depending on their atomic structure, giving each element a unique spectral signature,” Blanchard explained. “Therefore, looking at an object’s spectrum can tell us what elements are present. Upon examining the B.O.A.T.’s spectrum, we did not see any signature of heavy elements, suggesting extreme events like GRB 221009A are not primary sources. This is crucial information as we continue to try to pin down where the heaviest elements are formed.”

Why so bright?

To tease apart the light of the supernova from that of the bright afterglow that came before it, the researchers paired the JWST data with observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile. 

“Even several months after the burst was discovered, the afterglow was bright enough to contribute a lot of light in the JWST spectra,” said Tanmoy Laskar, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Utah and a co-author on the study. “Combining data from the two telescopes helped us measure exactly how bright the afterglow was at the time of our JWST observations and allow us to carefully extract the spectrum of the supernova.”

Although astrophysicists have yet to uncover how a “normal” supernova and a record-breaking GRB were produced by the same collapsed star, Laskar said it might be related to the shape and structure of the relativistic jets. When rapidly spinning, massive stars collapse into black holes, they produce jets of material that launch at rates close to the speed of light. If these jets are narrow, they produce a more focused — and brighter — beam of light.

“It’s like focusing a flashlight’s beam into a narrow column, as opposed to a broad beam that washes across a whole wall,” Laskar said. “In fact, this was one of the narrowest jets seen for a gamma-ray burst so far, which gives us a hint as to why the afterglow appeared as bright as it did. There may be other factors responsible as well, a question that researchers will be studying for years to come.”

Additional clues also may come from future studies of the galaxy in which the B.O.A.T. occurred. “In addition to a spectrum of the B.O.A.T. itself, we also obtained a spectrum of its ‘host’ galaxy,” Blanchard said. “The spectrum shows signs of intense star formation, hinting that the birth environment of the original star may be different than previous events.”  

Team member Yijia Li, a graduate student at Penn State, modeled the spectrum of the galaxy, finding that the B.O.A.T.’s host galaxy has the lowest metallicity, a measure of the abundance of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium, of all previous GRB host galaxies. “This is another unique aspect of the B.O.A.T. that may help explain its properties,” Li said. 

The study, “JWST detection of a supernova associated with GRB 221009A without an r-process signature,” was supported by NASA (award number JWST-GO-2784) and the National Science Foundation (award numbers AST-2108676 and AST-2002577). This work is based on observations made with the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope.

IMAGE....Artist's visualization of GRB 221009A showing the narrow relativistic jets — emerging from a central black hole — that gave rise to the GRB and the expanding remains of the original star ejected via the supernova explosion. Using the James Webb Space Telescope, Northwestern University postdoctoral fellow Peter Blanchard and his team detected the supernova for the first time, confirming GRB 221009A was the result of the collapse of a massive star. The study’s co-authors also found that the event occurred in a dense star forming region of its host galaxy as depicted by the background nebula. Credit Aaron M. Geller / Northwestern / CIERA / IT Research Computing and Data Services

[livesanskrit]

Send from Sansgreet Android App. Sanskrit greetings app from team @livesanskrit .

It's the first Android app for sending @sanskrit greetings. Download app from https://livesanskrit.com/sansgreet

Heinrich Robert Zimmer

Heinrich Robert Zimmer (6 December 1890 – 20 March 1943) was a German Indologist and linguist, as well as a historian of South Asian art, most known for his works, Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization and Philosophies of India. He was the most important German scholar in Indian Philology after Max Müller (1823-1900). In 2010, a "Heinrich Zimmer Chair for Indian Philosophy and Intellectual History" was inaugurated at Heidelberg University.

#sansgreet #sanskritgreetings #greetingsinsanskrit #sanskritquotes #sanskritthoughts #emergingsanskrit #sanskrittrends #trendsinsanskrit #livesanskrit #sanskritlanguage #sanskritlove #sanskritdailyquotes #sanskritdailythoughts #sanskrit #resanskrit #heinrichzimmer #german #indologist #linguist #historian #indianphilology #heidelberguniversity #greifswald #newrochelle #newyork #usa #academic #southasianart #celebratingsanskrit #germany

[materialsscienceandengineering]

Better understanding the bonds between carbon group elements

The bonds between clusters of elements in the fourteenth group of the periodic table are known to be fickle. Ranging from the nonmetal carbon, to the metalloids silicon and germanium, to the metals tin and lead, all these elements share the same configuration of valence electrons—electrons in their atoms' outermost energy level.

However, clusters formed from these elements respond differently to being excited with laser pulses. Studying the response of atomic clusters to photoexcitation as a function of the element they are composed of and their number of atoms reveals patterns that can be used to gain insight into their structure and binding mechanisms.

In a new paper in the European Physical Journal D, Paul Fischer and colleagues from the University of Greifswald in Germany reveal that, generally, the atomic bonds of carbon group clusters change from covalent to metallic when moving down the group.

To determine this, the researchers irradiated a solid target in vacuum using a pulsed laser, producing neutral and charged gas-phase atoms and clusters. Storing the charged particles in an electrostatic ion trap composed of two opposing ion-optical mirrors made it possible to separate them according to their mass-to-charge ratio with high resolution. The researchers then used a second pulsed laser to excite selected chemical species, revealing how the bonds across the group differ.

Read more.

[migueldelaguila]

This week two SUBMERGED performances in Stralsund,Germany at  Theater Vorpommern Chamber Series:

1/19/2024 - 7:30pm - Greifswald University Aula

1/28/2024 - 11 am - Foyer Theater Stralsund

Perform: Julia Götting, flute Germán de Evan, viola Augustina Ribbe, harp

Presenter: Theater Vorpommern Chamber Series.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 10.17 (before 1950)

690 – Empress Wu Zetian establishes the Zhou Dynasty of China. 1091 – London tornado of 1091: A tornado thought to be of strength T8/F4 strikes the heart of London. 1346 – The English capture King David II of Scotland at Neville's Cross and imprison him for eleven years. 1448 – An Ottoman army defeats a Hungarian army at the Second Battle of Kosovo. 1456 – The University of Greifswald is established as the second oldest university in northern Europe. 1534 – Anti-Catholic posters appear in Paris and other cities supporting Huldrych Zwingli's position on the Mass. 1558 – Poczta Polska, the Polish postal service, is founded. 1604 – Kepler's Supernova is observed in the constellation of Ophiuchus. 1610 – French king Louis XIII is crowned in Reims Cathedral. 1660 – The nine regicides who signed the death warrant of Charles I of England are hanged, drawn and quartered. 1662 – Charles II of England sells Dunkirk to Louis XIV of France for 40,000 pounds. 1713 – Great Northern War: Russia defeats Sweden in the Battle of Kostianvirta in Pälkäne. 1771 – Premiere in Milan of the opera Ascanio in Alba, composed by Mozart at age 15. 1777 – American Revolutionary War: British General John Burgoyne surrenders his army at Saratoga, New York. 1781 – American Revolutionary War: British General Charles, Earl Cornwallis surrenders at the Siege of Yorktown. 1800 – War of the Second Coalition: Britain takes control of the Dutch colony of Curaçao. 1806 – Former leader of the Haitian Revolution, Emperor Jacques I, is assassinated after an oppressive rule. 1811 – The silver deposits of Agua Amarga are discovered in Chile becoming in the following years instrumental for the Patriots to finance the Chilean War of Independence. 1814 – Eight people die in the London Beer Flood. 1850 – Riots start, which lead to a massacre in Aleppo. 1860 – First The Open Championship (referred to in North America as the British Open). 1861 – Aboriginal Australians kill nineteen Europeans in the Cullin-la-ringo massacre. 1907 – Marconi begins the first commercial transatlantic wireless service. 1912 – Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia declare war on the Ottoman Empire, joining Montenegro in the First Balkan War. 1919 – Leeds United F.C. founded at Salem Chapel, Holbeck after the winding up of Leeds City F.C. for making illegal payments to players during World War I. 1931 – Al Capone is convicted of income tax evasion. 1933 – Albert Einstein flees Nazi Germany and moves to the United States. 1940 – The body of Communist propagandist Willi Münzenberg is found in South France, starting a never-resolved mystery. 1941 – World War II: The USS Kearny becomes the first U.S. Navy vessel to be torpedoed by a U-boat. 1943 – The Burma Railway (Burma–Thailand Railway) is completed. 1943 – Nazi Holocaust in Poland: Sobibór extermination camp is closed. 1945 – A large demonstration in Buenos Aires, Argentina, demands Juan Perón's release.

[evoldir]

Fwd: Graduate position: HelmholtzInst_UGreifswald.BiodiversityData

Begin forwarded message: > From: evoldir@evol.biology.mcmaster.ca > Subject: Graduate position: HelmholtzInst_UGreifswald.BiodiversityData > Date: 20 September 2023 at 06:30:24 BST > To: rdmpage@gmail.com > > > We offer a PhD position as part of a large collaborative project involving > the Helmholtz Institute for One Health (HIOH) and the University of > Greifswald (UG), entitled Innovative approaches for monitoring and > integrating environmental and biodiversity data. > > Application: > https://ift.tt/pJ3kTnw > > Deadline: October 8th, 2023 > > Broadly, this project aims to tackle the challenge of monitoring micro- > and mesoscale heterogeneity in environmental factors and biodiversity > to contribute to the implementation of a One Health framework and > ultimately hopefully contributing to the improvement of human, animal, > and environmental health. Evidence suggests hosts and their pathogens > may persist or disappear in an area depending on a complex interplay > of microclimate and local biodiversity, which can vary drastically on > a scale of meters to millimeters. The project will explore a variety > of techniques to develop a monitoring toolkit that can be deployed in > Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and tropical Sub-Saharan Africa, with the ultimate > aim of contributing to the HIOH’s One Health Surveilence Core Unit > (OHS). > > While we plan to give the PhD candidate considerable freedom in developing > the specific PhD topic, we envision a project that incorporates molecular > biology and the use of environmental DNA/RNA (eDNA/eRNA) to describe > vertebrate and microbial communities, as well as the deployment of a > large network of automated temperature loggers that will be combined > with drone and satellite data. Data generated with these approaches > could be combined to ask questions about how biodiversity varies along > environmental gradients and work has the potential to include a specific > disease angle. We hope to harness recent advances in molecular biology > and environmental monitoring to provide insights into variation in > environments and communities of hosts and their microorganisms at a high > resolution, to contribute to understanding factors governing community > assemblages and disease risk across heterogeneous landscapes. > > Field work in MV could involve drained and rewetted mire habitats, > including areas being developed for solar power, forests, and > surrounding farmland. Field work in the Côte d’Ivoire could > involve an environmental gradient from the interior of Taï National > Park to surrounding villages, as well as areas being targeted for > reforestation. Field work will be coordinated with the HIOH’s OHS and > the UG. Key partners who will help shape the PhD project at the HIOH are > Drs. Sébastien Calvignac-Spencer, Jan Gogarten, Lorenzo Lagostina, and > Fee Zimmermann. At the UG key partners who will help shape the PhD project > are Drs. Mia Bengtsson, Mathilde Borg Dahl, Philipp Lehmann, Tim Urich, > and Haitao Wang. A post doc will be hired as part of the broader project, > providing further opportunities for collaboration and supervision, > while logger network infrastructure, including 600 ground loggers and > 2,400 tree loggers are available for deployment for the project. > > > > > > Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung GmbH | Inhoffenstraße 7 | > 38124 Braunschweig | www.helmholtz-hzi.de > > Vorsitzende des Aufsichtsrates: Frau MinDir'in Prof. Dr. Veronika von > Messling, Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung Stellvertreter: > MinDirig Rüdiger Eichel, Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft > und Kultur Wissenschaftlicher Geschäftsführer: Prof. Dr. Josef Penninger > - Administrativer Geschäftsführer: Christian Scherf Gesellschaft > mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbH) Sitz der Gesellschaft: Braunschweig > Handelsregister: Amtsgericht Braunschweig, HRB 477 > > Unsere Hinweise zum Datenschutz finden Sie hier: > https://ift.tt/kGAaEZJ > > "Gogarten, Jan Frederik"

[earaercircular]

Public authorities as role models

The use of ecologically produced materials is also gaining in importance in construction. An alliance for sustainable building now wants to speed up the process in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

The economy in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania[1] has called on the federal, state and local authorities to set a good example in ecological and sustainable construction. According to contract award statistics, only just under six percent of public construction contracts nationwide in the first half of 2021 were tied to sustainability criteria. A share of little more than ten percent can be expected for 2022. "There is still room for improvement," emphasized the President of the MV Chamber of Architects, Christoph Meyn, recently in Schwerin[2].

The occasion was the presentation of concrete recommendations for action by the Alliance for Sustainable Building in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania[3], that was founded in October 2022. In addition to the Chamber of Architects and Engineers, its members include the State Building Association[4], the Chambers of Crafts and Industry and Commerce, the BUND environmental protection organisation[5] and universities and colleges in the North-East.[6]

The alliance calls for better legal framework conditions for the introduction and use of ecological building materials. The consistent use of sustainable building and insulation materials is intended to reduce the heat and electricity requirements of buildings. By promoting regional material cycles for components and materials, the use of building materials should be reduced and added value in the state increased. In addition, the qualification of personnel in construction companies and planning offices as well as in authorities is to be promoted.

Instead of insulating panels made of Styrofoam or glass fibres, natural materials such as wood fibres, seaweed, straw or hemp should be used more, said the President of the Chamber of Engineers, Gesa Haroske. In addition, it is important to process building materials and reuse them for future generations, taking into account the limited resources and burdens. "Today's students are demanding sustainable construction," she said. Awareness of this is growing.

"We can only build more ecologically if we move from talking to doing business," warned the general manager of the Schwerin Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Siegbert Eisenach. Possibilities for this should be shown to the industry and at the same time ways should be opened up to the latter to make it fit for the future. "We want to be a pioneer here in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania," said Eisenach. The transformation and many different interests, but inevitable. "This path will not be easy," admitted Eisenach.

According to Meyns, the increasing costs for energy, transport and recycling must also be taken into account in future construction. "This has long been an issue for companies, and builders are asking about it more and more," he said. Recently, the federal government's plans for a new heating law had caused heated debates because homeowners feared major financial burdens with the originally planned specifications for the conversion to emission-free heating systems.

Source

Dpa, Öffentliche Hand in Vorbildrolle, in: Süddeutsche Zeitung, 18-7-2023 https://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/nachhaltiges-bauen-oeffentliche-hand-in-vorbildrolle-dpa.urn-newsml-dpa-com-20090101-230718-99-444119

[1] Mecklenburg-Vorpommern also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ranks 14th in population, It covers 23,176 km2 making it the sixth largest German state in area, and 16th in population density. Schwerin is the state capital and Rostock is the largest city. Other major cities include Neubrandenburg, Stralsund, Greifswald, Wismar and Güstrow.

[2] Schwerin is the capital and second-largest city of the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern as well as of the region of Mecklenburg, after Rostock. It has around 96,000 inhabitants, and is thus the least populous of all German state capitals.

[3] In the course of climate change, in addition to the emissions caused during operation, the entire CO2 footprint and location of buildings is increasingly coming into focus and makes an economic analysis over the entire life cycle necessary. Numerous actors in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania have been active in this area for years or even decades and repeatedly come up against obstacles that have so far slowed down the dynamic development of sustainable construction. https://www.ihk.de/schwerin/standortpolitik/regional-und-stadtentwicklung/hochschulen-westmecklenburg/allianz-fuer-nachhaltiges-bauen-in-mv-5628018#:~:text=Die%20Allianz%20f%C3%BCr%20nachhaltiges%20Bauen,Interessierte%20k%C3%B6nnen%20der%20Gruppe%20beitreten.

[4] In German: Landesbauverband

[5] In German: Umweltschutzorganisation BUND

[6] Read also: https://www.tumblr.com/earaercircular/689203972810162176/over-a-million-tons-of-rubble-recycled-in?source=share

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Dr.Sanchit Talwar

1104, Sector 34C Rd, Sector 34C, Sector 34, Chandigarh, 160022

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Dr. Sanchit Talwar is a renowned and experienced dermatologist in Chandigarh. He brings with him the experience of 12 years. Dr. Sanchit owns two dermatology clinics, one each in Chandigarh and Ludhiana. He works with Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis as one of their principal speakers in the fields of dermatology and allergy. He has also been a resident physician at Fortis Hospital, Mohali, and a consultant dermatologist at ESI Hospital, Wings Hospital,, and Healing Hospital, Chandigarh. He completed his MBBS and MD in Dermatology, Venereology, and Leprosy in 2012. Later, he also completed a Fellowship in Aesthetic Medicine from the University of Greifswald, Germany, in 2014. Dr. Sanchit is the youngest dermatologist to be part of the Indian Urticaria Advisory Board. He was also the only Dermatologist to represent India at the AMAC Dermatology Leaders Meet in Dubai in 2015 and the youngest Dermatologist to be part of the World Psoriasis Advisory Panel. A dedicated, compassionate doctor who handles many challenging cases with the latest cutting-edge technology.