Managing a World Heritage Site: Potentials and limitations of transdisciplinary approaches

Balancing the frequently conflicting priorities of conservation and economic development poses a challenge to management of the Swiss Alps Jungfrau- Aletsch World Heritage Site (WHS). This is a complex societal problem that calls for a knowledge-based solution. This in turn requires a transdisciplinary research framework in which problems are defined and solved cooperatively by actors from the scientific community and the life-world. In this article we re-examine studies carried out in the region of the Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch WHS, covering three key issues prevalent in transdisciplinary settings: integration of stakeholders into participatory processes; perceptions and positions; and negotiability and implementation. In the case of the Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch WHS the transdisciplinary setting created a situation of mutual learning among stakeholders from different levels and backgrounds. However, the studies showed that the benefits of such processes of mutual learning are continuously at risk of being diminished by the power play inherent in participatory approaches

Leistungen von Landschaften fassbar machen

Landschaften bilden die räumliche Grundlage des Lebens und sind für uns Menschen gleichzeitig Wohn­, Arbeits­, Erholungs­, Kultur­ und Wirtschaftsraum. Die Qualität von Landschaften lässt sich nur fördern, wenn ihr Nutzen benannt und deutlich gemacht wird. Dies geschieht aktuell in raumrelevanten Projekten viel zu selten. Mit dem partizipativen Ansatz der «Landschaftsleistungen» lassen sich Funktionen von Landschaften bezeichnen, die den Individuen und der Gesellschaft einen direkten wirtschaftlichen, sozialen und/oder ökologischen Nutzen bringen. Die Landschaftsleistungen bieten somit eine wichtige Grundlage für den Dialog bei der Gestaltung von Landschaf­ten. Das Factsheet leistet damit einen Beitrag zur Umsetzung des 2020 verabschiedeten Landschaftskonzeptes Schweiz und anderer politisch­gesellschaftlicher Vorhaben

The Role of In Vitro-Induced Lymphocyte Apoptosis in Feline Immunodeficiency Virus Infection: Correlation with Different Markers of Disease Progression

Human immunodeficiency virus infection is characterized by a progressive decline in the number of peripheral blood CD4(+) T lymphocytes, which finally leads to AIDS. This T-cell decline correlates with the degree of in vitro-induced lymphocyte apoptosis. However, such a correlation has not yet been described in feline AIDS, caused by feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) infection. We therefore investigated the intensity of in vitro-induced apoptosis in peripheral blood lymphocytes from cats experimentally infected with a Swiss isolate of FIV for 1 year and for 6 years and from a number of long-term FIV-infected cats which were coinfected with feline leukemia virus. Purified peripheral blood lymphocytes were either cultured overnight under nonstimulating conditions or stimulated with phytohemagglutinin and interleukin-2 for 60 h. Under stimulating conditions, the isolates from the infected cats showed significantly higher relative counts of apoptotic cells than did those from noninfected controls (1-year-infected cats, P = 0.01; 6-year-infected cats, P = 0.006). The frequency of in vitro-induced apoptosis was inversely correlated with the CD4(+) cell count (P = 0.002), bright CD8(+) cell count (P = 0.009), and CD4/CD8 ratio (P = 0.01) and directly correlated with the percentage of bright major histocompatibility complex class II-positive peripheral blood lymphocytes (P = 0.004). However, we found no correlation between in vitro-induced apoptosis and the viral load in serum samples. Coinfection with feline leukemia virus enhanced the degree of in vitro-induced apoptosis compared with that in FIV monoinfected cats. We concluded that the degree of in vitro-induced apoptosis was closely related to FIV-mediated T-cell depletion and lymphocyte activation and could be used as an additional marker for disease progression in FIV infection