The acceptance of instruments in instrument mix situations: Citizens’ perspective on Swiss energy transition

Citizens are the target group of sustainability policies, and their acceptance and subsequent behavioral change are key in transition processes. But what drives citizens to accept new instruments that will be added to a pre-existing instrument mix? To answer this question, we suggest an innovative combination of sustainability transitions and social acceptance research, and examine the case of Swiss energy turnaround. We rely on data from a representative sample of the Swiss resident population. By estimating logistic multi-response models, we disentangle individual and context-related factors that drive instrument preferences in a instrument mix situation. We conclude that it is mainly individual factors (values in favor of nuclear phasing out and climate mitigation) that positively impact the acceptance of instruments that promote the larger energy transitions through renewables. Additionally, the self-contribution of citizens (energy pro-sumers) seems to shape preferences more than current policies of their own jurisdiction

Tasks and impact of school social work in Switzerland as perceived by teachers, principals and school social workers – a multilevel analysis

To investigate whether the perceptions of school-based professionals regarding the tasks and impact of school social work (SSW) converge or diverge, this study collected survey data among 638 teachers, 41 school social workers, 62 principals, and 23 special education teachers distributed over 92 Swiss schools. After constructing several scales measuring the tasks and the impact of SSW via principal factor analyses, ANOVA’s were carried out to compare the mean perceptions of the included professionals. To prove for related perceptions between teachers and school social workers multilevel analyses were performed by including additional exploratory variables such as school context and personal factors. Most results indicate considerable concordance between the professions included in the study regarding the tasks rated as important as well as with respect to the outcomes of school social work. While all professions agreed that social problem solving, i.e. the intervention approach, is the most important approach of school social work, some discordance was found with respect to preventive tasks such as project work. Overall, teachers and principals tended to underestimate the effects of school social work implying some potential to destabilize their collaboration with the school social workers. While the multi-level analyses revealed a high variability between schools due to local factors, the perceptions of the teachers and the school social workers located at the same schools proved to be independent over most investigated dimensions

Brain-resident memory T cells generated early in life predispose to autoimmune disease in mice

Epidemiological studies associate viral infections during childhood with the risk of developing autoimmune disease during adulthood. However, the mechanistic link between these events remains elusive. We report that transient viral infection of the brain in early life, but not at a later age, precipitates brain autoimmune disease elicited by adoptive transfer of myelin-specific CD4(+) T cells at sites of previous infection in adult mice. Early-life infection of mouse brains imprinted a chronic inflammatory signature that consisted of brain-resident memory T cells expressing the chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 5 (CCL5). Blockade of CCL5 signaling via C-C chemokine receptor type 5 prevented the formation of brain lesions in a mouse model of autoimmune disease. In mouse and human brain, CCL5(+) T-RM were located predominantly to sites of microglial activation. This study uncovers how transient brain viral infections in a critical window in life might leave persisting chemotactic cues and create a long-lived permissive environment for autoimmunity

Cinnamon extract induces tumor cell death through inhibition of NFκB and AP1

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Cinnamomum cassia </it>bark is the outer skin of an evergreen tall tree belonging to the family Lauraceae containing several active components such as essential oils (cinnamic aldehyde and cinnamyl aldehyde), tannin, mucus and carbohydrate. They have various biological functions including anti-oxidant, anti-microbial, anti-inflammation, anti-diabetic and anti-tumor activity. Previously, we have reported that anti-cancer effect of cinnamon extracts is associated with modulation of angiogenesis and effector function of CD8⁺T cells. In this study, we further identified that anti-tumor effect of cinnamon extracts is also link with enhanced pro-apoptotic activity by inhibiting the activities NFκB and AP1 in mouse melanoma model.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Water soluble cinnamon extract was obtained and quality of cinnamon extract was evaluated by HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography) analysis. In this study, we tested anti-tumor activity and elucidated action mechanism of cinnamon extract using various types of tumor cell lines including lymphoma, melanoma, cervix cancer and colorectal cancer <it>in vitro </it>and <it>in vivo </it>mouse melanoma model.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Cinnamon extract strongly inhibited tumor cell proliferation <it>in vitro </it>and induced active cell death of tumor cells by up-regulating pro-apoptotic molecules while inhibiting NFκB and AP1 activity and their target genes such as <it>Bcl-2</it>, <it>BcL-xL </it>and <it>survivin</it>. Oral administration of cinnamon extract in melanoma transplantation model significantly inhibited tumor growth with the same mechanism of action observed <it>in vitro</it>.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our study suggests that anti-tumor effect of cinnamon extracts is directly linked with enhanced pro-apoptotic activity and inhibition of NFκB and AP1 activities and their target genes <it>in vitro </it>and <it>in vivo </it>mouse melanoma model. Hence, further elucidation of active components of cinnamon extract could lead to development of potent anti-tumor agent or complementary and alternative medicine for the treatment of diverse cancers.</p

Grünliberal - Ist der Name schon Programm?

Grünliberal ist mehr als ein Schlagwort, wie eine vertiefte Analyse der GLP und ihrer grünen und freisinnigen Wurzeln zeigt: Die Partei füllt mit eigenständigen Positionen über ihre Kernthemen hinaus eine Lücke. Dies birgt neben Chancen auch Probleme

Ist der Name schon Programm? Die GLP-Wählerschaft und ihre grünen und freisinnigen Wurzeln

Negativ ausgedrückt ist die GLP weder richtig grün noch richtig liberal. Positiv ausgedrückt ist sie beides ein bisschen. Zu diesem Schluss kommen die Professorinnen Isabelle Stadelmann-Steffen und Karin Ingold von der Universität Bern, die die Präferenzen der Wählerschaft der GLP untersucht haben

Ist der Name schon Programm? Die GLP-Wählerschaft und ihre grünen und freisinnigen Wurzeln

1. Einleitung 2. Theorie: grün und liberal im politischen Raum 2.1 Der «alte» ökonomische Konflikt 2.2 «Neue» Einstellungskonflikte: Ökologie vs. Ökonomie 2.3 Einstellungen bezüglich Öffnung-Schliessung (Immigration, EU-Integration) 3. Die Wählerbetrachtung: die Merkmale und Einstellungen der GLP-Basis 3.1 Das sozioökonomische Profil der GLP-Wählerschaft 3.2 Das Einstellungsprofil der GLP-Wählerschaft 4. Die Elitenbetrachtung: parteiinterne Positionierung und inhaltliche Schwerpunkte der GLP 5. Die Parteielite und die Wählerschaft der GLP im Vergleich 6. Schlussbetrachtunge