A new framework to enable equitable outcomes: resilience and nexus approaches combined

Managing integrated social-ecological systems to reduce risks to human and environmental well-being remains challenging in light of the rate and extent of undesirable changes that are occurring. Developing frameworks that are sufficiently integrative to guide research to deliver the necessary insights into all key system aspects is an important outstanding task. Among existing approaches, resilience and nexus framings both allow focus on unpacking relationships across scales and levels in a system and emphasize the involvement of different groups in decision making to different extents. They also suffer weaknesses and neither approach puts social justice considerations explicitly at its core. This has important implications for understanding who wins and loses out from different decisions and how social and ecological risks and trade-offs are shared and distributed, temporally and spatially. This paper conceptually integrates resilience and nexus approaches, developing a combined framework and indicating how it could effectively be operationalized in cases from mountain and mangrove social-ecological systems. In doing so, it advances understanding of complex social-ecological systems framings for risk-based decision making beyond that which could be achieved through use of either resilience or nexus approaches alone. Important next steps in testing the framework involve empirical and field operationalization, requiring interdisciplinary, mixed method approache

Solare Warmwasserbereitung und Fernwaermeeinspeisung. Waldblickschule Freital

A solar heat system (collector area 100 m"2) was integrated in a gas-fueled district heating system of 2.1 MW power. The solar heat output has been used for domestic hot water demand of a school and additionally to increase the return flow temperature of the district heating system. Efficiency investigations of the system has been performed based on a large scale measuring programme. The annual solar heat production was found to be 280 kWh/m"2 with a system efficiency of 26%. Both numbers were influenced negatively by the high return flow temperature (58 C) in the district heating system. These results as well as the investigations of the buffer layer tanks coupled in series are discussed in detail. Using the described optimization potentials future solar systems can produce an annual net solar energy of 350 kWh/m"2 with costs lower than 0.30 DM/kWh. (orig.)In ein mit Erdgas betriebenes konventionelles Fernwaermesystem (Anschlussleistung 2,1 MW) wurde eine Solarkollektoranlage mit einer Bruttoflaeche von 100 m"2 integriert. Die Kollektoranlage diente vorrangig der Erzeugung von Brauchwarmwasser fuer eine Schule, solare Ueberschuesse wurden in den Ruecklauf des Fernwaermesystems eingespeist. Ein umfangreiches Messprogramm ermoeglichte Effizienzuntersuchungen des Systems. Der jaehrliche Nettoertrag des Solarsystems lag bei 280 kWh/m"2 bei einem Systemnutzungsgrad von 26%. Beide Kennziffern werden durch hohe Ruecklauftemperaturen (58 C) im Nahwaermenetz negativ beeinflusst. Weitere Untersuchungen galten dem Betrieb von in Reihe geschalteten Schichtspeichern, die Ergebnisse werden im Einzelnen dargestellt. Bei Ausschoepfung der in dem Vorhaben deutlich gewordenen Optimierungspotentiale koennen in kuenftigen Anlagen Nettoertraege von 350 kWh/m"2a und solare Waermegestehungskosten unter 0.30 DM/kWh erreicht werden. (orig.)SIGLEAvailable from TIB Hannover: RR 1847(137) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSaechsisches Staatsministerium fuer Umwelt und Landesentwicklung, Dresden (Germany)DEGerman

Accelerated DNA methylation aging and increased resilience in veterans: The biological cost for soldiering on

Accelerated epigenetic aging, the difference between the DNA methylation-predicted age (DNAm age) and the chronological age, is associated with a myriad of diseases. This study investigates the relationship between epigenetic aging and risk and protective factors of PTSD. Genome-wide DNA methylation analysis was performed in 211 individuals including combat-exposed Australian veterans (discovery cohort, n=96 males) and trauma-exposed civilian males from the Grady Trauma Project (replication cohort, n=115 males). Primary measures included the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). DNAm age prediction was performed using the validated epigenetic clock calculator. Veterans with PTSD had increased PTSD symptom severity (P-value=3.75x10(-34)) and lower CD-RISC scores (Pvalue=7.5x10(-8)) than veterans without PTSD. DNAm age was significantly correlated with the chronological age (P-value=3.3x10(-6)), but DNAm age acceleration was not different between the PTSD and non-PTSD groups (P-value=0.24). Evaluating potential protective factors, we found that DNAm age acceleration was significantly associated with CD-RISC resilience scores in veterans with PTSD, these results remained significant after multiple testing correction (P-value=0.023; r=0.32). This finding was also replicated in an independent trauma-exposed civilian cohort (P-value=0.02; r=0.23). Post-hoc factor analyses revealed that this association was likely driven by "self-efficacy" items within the CD-RISC (P-value=0.015; r=0.35). These results suggest that among individuals already suffering from PTSD, some aspects of increased resilience might come at a biological cost

A Systematic Review of DNA Methylation and Gene Expression Studies in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Posttraumatic Growth, and Resilience

Most people will experience a traumatic event within their lifetime. One commonly recognized response to trauma exposure is posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The biological underpinnings of PTSD, including epigenetic mechanisms of DNA methylation and gene expression, have been studied intensively. However, psychological posttrauma responses vary widely and can include positive outcomes, such as posttraumatic growth (PTG) and, more commonly, resilience. The aim of this systematic review was to summarize the current DNA methylation and gene expression data with respect to three potential posttrauma responses: PTSD, PTG, and resilience. A literature search identified 486 studies, 51 of which were deemed eligible for inclusion (total N = 10,633). All included studies examined PTSD and consistently implicated DNA methylation and gene expression changes in hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis and inflammatory genes. Ten studies acknowledged resilience as a posttrauma response, but only two studies examined epigenetics and gene expression using a scale to measure resilience. Low resilience was associated with gene expression patterns in immune and dopamine genes, and high resilience was associated with a blunted inflammatory response. No studies examined epigenetic or gene expression changes associated with PTG. These findings highlight a focus on pathogenic research, which has failed to adequately acknowledge and measure positive posttrauma outcomes of PTG and resilience. Future research should examine DNA methylation and gene expression changes associated with PTG and resilience in addition to PTSD in order to gain a more comprehensive picture of an individual's well-being following exposure to trauma.</p