"Neuroscience, Consciousness and Spirituality presents a variety of perspectives by leading thinkers on contemporary research into the brain, the mind and the spirit. This volumes aims at combining knowledge from neuroscience with approaches from the experiential perspective of the first person singular in order to arrive at an integrated understanding of consciousness. Individual chapters discuss new areas of research, such as near death studies and neuroscience research into spiritual experiences, and report on significant new theoretical advances. From Harald Walach's introductory essay, "Neuroscience, Consciousness, Spirituality--Questions, Problems and Potential Solutions," to the concluding chapter by Robert K. C. Foreman entitled "An Emerging New Model for Consciousness: The Consciousness Field Model," this book represents a milestone in the progress towards an integrated understanding of spirituality, neuroscience and consciousness. It is the first in a series of books that are dedicated to this topic."--Publisher's website
Many river landscapes around the world have been substantially transformed to enhance navigation, to produce energy and to enable agricultural production and settlement in former floodplain areas. While these changes have led to generally more uniform flow conditions, constant water tables and sharply defined embankments, they have given rise to several unintended challenges for society, for instance exacerbating floods, diminishing water quality and biodiversity loss. Rediscovery and reinventing nature-based solutions (NBS), i.e. activities inspired and supported by ecosystem processes to fulfill human and societal needs, are rapidly gaining popularity in science and policy. NBS promise to address challenges effectively and adaptively, simultaneously providing co-benefits for people and nature. However, substantial knowledge gaps still exist, particularly on planning and implementation practices, effectiveness and monitoring. Good practice examples are needed that showcase under which conditions NBS contribute to overcoming environmental, social and economic challenges and how such solutions can be successfully planned and realized in different contexts. Also, more research and practical experimentation is needed on how to integrate different disciplines and collaborate with various stakeholders and decision-makers. The aim of this session is to explore current frontiers of planning and implementing NBS in river landscapes. More specifically, we are interested in sharing insights and innovations regarding principles, barriers, and strategies for making NBS work in practice. More specifically, the session will feature contributions around three themes: i. Studies investigating the effectiveness of NBS towards ecological, social and economic outcomes. We will see contributions on ex-ante and ex-post evaluations of impacts of NBS, case studies and reviews of NBS benefits and costs, and comparisons between NBS and technical alternatives. Perspectives on distributional effects of NBS benefits across different actor groups will be addressed as well. ii. Studies exploring opportunities for successful planning and designing NBS. Which approaches have been used in inter- and transdisciplinary efforts to identify and spatially design NBS at local and regional scales? How can different knowledge systems be integrated in NBS planning processes, and how can results from NBS analyses be communicated and mainstreamed to provide useful knowledge for relevant stakeholders? iii. Studies shedding light on governance and business models for implementing NBS in different governance contexts and actor constellations. For example, how can we ensure adequate financing and funding, how can benefits and costs of NBS be distributed fairly, and how can government, civil society and business actors cooperate for NBS? The symposium is associated with two working groups. First, it relates to TWG 14 - Application of Ecosystem Services in Planning and Management. Second, the symposium will serve as an opportunity to re-launch ESP's Biome Working Group (BWG) 2b on Rivers and Lakes.
Okudoh, V; Trois, C; Workneh, T; Schmidt, S; (2014). ?The potential of cassava biomass and applicable technologies for sustainable biogas production in South Africa: A review?. - The definitive, peer-reviewed and edited version of this article is published in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews: 39(2014)1035?1052, DOI:10.1016/j.rser.2014.07.142 ; Bioenergy production from agricultural crop biomass or residues is gaining interest due to the escalating cost of fossil fuels and the need to mitigate global warming caused by increasing GHG emissions. Of all the different feed stocks used for bioenergy production in Africa, cassava biomass potentially offers multiple benefits for producing biofuels such as biogas. However, its potential for food and non-food applications has so far been grossly underestimated by farmers and energy operators in Africa. This critical review on cassava intends to highlight the bioenergy potential of the crop especially for biogas production in Africa. Initially, the basic agricultural properties of cassava will be reviewed. Cassava contains large amounts of fermentable sugars. Its starch content is in the range of 20-35% based on fresh and at about 80.6% based on dry weight with a total dry matter content of 38.6%. It has the highest yield of carbohydrates per hectare with the exception of sugarcane and sugar beet. It thrives well in all ecological zones with one of the best water-footprints especially on soils of relatively low fertility, in drought conditions and requires low agrochemical input. High yielding and disease resistant cassava varieties have been developed for both food and nonfood applications with China adopting the crop to meet its 2020 biofuel target. Based on the available literature, various pretreatment techniques including mechanical, chemical, thermal, ultrasonic and wet explosion strategies were considered. In addition, the use of co-digestion and stimulation of microbial activity will be highlighted. The advantages and disadvantages of each technology as well as adoptable technologies for cassava biogas production and its optimization in Africa and in particular in South Africa will be critically discussed. This review highlights the highly politicized food vs energy debate as the most relevant bottleneck for using ?potential? food (like cassava and other energy crops) for energy production. It suggests a paradigm shift on both sides of the debate and a more holistic view of food and biomass energy production which can be very complementary rather than exclusive. In conclusion, this review recommend considering cassava and its biomass as the next energy crop for biogas production in Africa and especially South Africa while providing guidance to future researchers and government policy makers. ; Financial support from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology during this research project are gratefully acknowledged.
We studied the effect of experimenter expectations and different instructions in a balanced placebo design. 157 subjects were randomized into a 2 × 4 factorial design. Two experimenters were led to expect placebos either to produce physiological effects or not (pro- vs. antiplacebo). All subjects except a control group received a caffeine placebo. They were either made to expect coffee, no coffee, or were in a double-blind condition. Dependent measures were blood pressure, heart rate, well-being, and a cognitive task. There was one main effect on the instruction factor (p = 0.03) with the group "told no caffeine" reporting significantly better well-being. There was one main effect on the experimenter factor with subjects instructed by experimenter "proplacebo" having higher systolic blood pressure (p = 0.008). There was one interaction with subjects instructed by experimenter "proplacebo" to receive coffee doing worse in the cognitive task than the rest. Subjects instructed by experimenter "antiplacebo" were significantly less likely to believe the experimental instruction, and that mostly if they had been instructed to receive coffee. Contrary to the literature we could not show an effect of instruction, but there was an effect of experimenters. It is likely, however, that these experimenter effects were not due to experimental manipulations, but to the difference in personalities.
Die Arbeit zeigt Möglichkeiten, aber auch Schwierigkeiten, für ein friedliches, respektvolles Zusammenleben aller Menschen auf. Dazu wurde Deutschland als Einwanderungsland beleuchtet und die Begriffe, wie Migration, Integration, Asylbewerber*innen, Flüchtlinge theoretisch betrachtet. Der Hauptbestandteil der Arbeit sind die Interviews mit ehemaligen Teilnehmern am Integrationsprojekt "4Life" an einem Bildungsträger in Wismar, die 2015 ihre Heimatländer verlassen haben, um sich in Deutschland ein Leben in Frieden aufzubauen. IN Auswertung werden Möglichkeiten für ein Miteinander aufgezeigt.
Die vorliegende Masterarbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Lebensqualität psychisch kranker Menschen in Wohnheimen. Hierzu wird eine wissenschaftliche Untersuchung durchgeführt. Mit Hilfe von Interviews werden die subjektiven Sichtweisen der betroffenen Menschen eingefangen und im Rahmen dieser Masterarbeit präsentiert. Es stellt sich die Frage, wie die Menschen nach 45 Jahren Psychiatrie Enquete ihre eigene Lebenssituation im Wohnheim beurteilen und ob der Gedanke der Inklusion im alltäglichen Lebensalltag spürbar ist.
Das Jugendalter ist die Phase im Leben, in der die Jugendlichen sich mit vielen Stressoren auseinandersetzen müssen. Eine Verhaltensweise zum Umgang mit Stress ist beispielsweise der Konsum von Suchtmitteln wie Drogen, Zigaretten oder Alkohol. Diese Forschungsarbeit untersucht eine mögliche verhaltenspräventive Maßnahme zur Suchtprävention. Es handelt sich hierbei ums Klettern. Ziel dieser Forschung ist es, die Erfahrungen von Trainer*innen hinsichtlich eines Kletterprojekts als Maßnahme zur Suchtprävention herauszuarbeiten.
Um nachhaltigere Entscheidungen über natürliche Ressourcen und Landnutzung zu treffen, gewinnt das Konzept der Ökosystemleistungen (ES) an Bedeutung in Wissenschaft und Praxis. Die Einbeziehung von ES-Informationen in Entscheidungsfindungsprozesse (Mainstreaming) wird jedoch erschwert durch fehlende Standards für Terminologie, akzeptable Daten und Methoden sowie Erfordernisse für die Dokumentation zum Austausch konsistenter Informationen über ES. Datenbanken stellen konsistente Informationen bereit, die die Entwicklung von Standards erleichtern können und damit zum Mainstreaming beitragen. In dieser Dissertation wurden 29 ES-Datenbanken, mit 36.112 Studien analysiert. Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Informationen aus ES-Datenbanken in folgenden Anwendungskontexten zur Formalisierung von Standards beitragen: i) Integration von ES-Informationen in sechs generische Politikinstrumente, die Ressourcen und Landnutzung beeinflussen, ii) globale Übertragbarkeit und Unsicherheiten von ES-Datenbankinformation am Beispiel monetär bewerteter ES, und iii) Evaluation der Effektivität und Effizienz von ES-Studienergebnissen.
Um nachhaltigere Entscheidungen über natürliche Ressourcen und Landnutzung zu treffen, gewinnt das Konzept der Ökosystemleistungen (ES) an Bedeutung in Wissenschaft und Praxis. Die Einbeziehung von ES-Informationen in Entscheidungsfindungsprozesse (Mainstreaming) wird jedoch erschwert durch fehlende Standards für Terminologie, akzeptable Daten und Methoden sowie Erfordernisse für die Dokumentation zum Austausch konsistenter Informationen über ES. Datenbanken stellen konsistente Informationen bereit, die die Entwicklung von Standards erleichtern können und damit zum Mainstreaming beitragen. In dieser Dissertation wurden 29 ES-Datenbanken, mit 36.112 Studien analysiert. Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Informationen aus ES-Datenbanken in folgenden Anwendungskontexten zur Formalisierung von Standards beitragen: i) Integration von ES-Informationen in sechs generische Politikinstrumente, die Ressourcen und Landnutzung beeinflussen, ii) globale Übertragbarkeit und Unsicherheiten von ES-Datenbankinformation am Beispiel monetär bewerteter ES, und iii) Evaluation der Effektivität und Effizienz von ES-Studienergebnissen.
Germany faces on-going degradation and biodiversity loss. As a consequence, goods and services provided by biodiversity for human well-being, so-called ecosystem services, are being lost. The associated economic costs and benefits are often unknown. To fill this gap, we conducted a literature review and developed a database of monetary values for the changes in ecosystem services that result from ecosystem change in Germany. In total, 109 monetary valuation studies of regulating and cultural ecosystem services were identified, with the majority focusing on forests and wetlands. In collaboration with valuation experts and the German Federal Environment Agency-Umweltbundesamt (UBA), we defined a set of criteria that economic valuation studies should meet in order to qualify for being used in decision making on national policies. Only 6 out of 109 valuation studies (5.5%) fulfilled the quality criteria for informing such decisions. Overall, monetary information on regulating and cultural ecosystem services is scattered and scarce compared to information on provisioning services, which is accounted for in detail in national statistics. This imbalance in information likely contributes to the distortion in land-use policies, giving preference to maximizing provisioning services in agricultural production and forestry, while neglecting the societal relevance of regulating and cultural services. Decision makers have to rely on only a few cost estimates that are scientifically robust, while being pragmatic to include also vague estimates in cases where data is lacking. The transferability of the monetary values included in our database depends on the biophysical and socio-economic site conditions as well as the decision context of the intended application. Case specific adjustments following guidance for benefit transfer are recommended. Given the lack of applicable studies, we call for more decision-relevant economic assessments. Even in cases where monetary estimates are available, we suggest decision makers to consider also other benefit information available to capture the multiple values ecosystems provide to humans.
