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Mountain regions face decisive challenges, not only for their sustainable development but also fortheir very reproduction. These challenges have to do with the increasingly serious impact of climate and environmental change, the impact of socioeconomic and cultural globalization on mountain populations and the ecosystems they inhabit, and the effects of urbanization on mountain agriculture. Based on these premises, this article introduces the notion of “montology” by investigating, on the one hand, the historical development of the term and, on the other, by presenting the essential principles of a perspective committed to building a real transdisciplinarity in mountain studies. Finally, through the example of urbanization and its impact on Andean agriculture, we intend to highlight the need to adopt a montological perspective in order to contribute to the analysis of human environmental problems and to the sustainable development of the region.

Due to agricultural abandonment and the urban preference for ‘wilderness’ over ‘rural’ areas, abandoned settlements and rewilding grasslands are often the last traces of agriculture in today’s prot...

We describe a protocol to read out the topological invariant of interacting 1D chiral models, based on measuring the mean chiral displacement of time-evolving bulk excitations. We present analytical calculations and numerical Matrix Product State simulations of interacting Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) chains, demonstrating how the mean chiral displacement allows to distinguish between topological insulator, trivial insulator and symmetry-broken phases. Finally, we provide an experimental blueprint for realizing a model displaying these three phases and describe how to detect those., Comment: replaced with revised version

Stress is a major influence on the quality of life in our fast-moving society. This paper describes a standardized and contemporary protocol that is capable of inducing moderate psychological stress in a laboratory setting. Furthermore, it evaluates its effects on physiological biomarkers. The protocol called “THM-Stresstest” mainly consists of a rest period (30 min), an app-based stress test under the surveillance of an audience (4 min) and a regeneration period (32 min). We investigated 12 subjects to evaluate the developed protocol. We could show significant changes in heart rate variability, electromyography, electro dermal activity and salivary cortisol and α-amylase. From this data we conclude that the THM-Stresstest can serve as a psychobiological tool for provoking responses in the cardiovascular-, the endocrine and exocrine system as well as the sympathetic part of the central nervous system.

This study investigated the trainability of decision-making and reactive agility via video-based visual training in young athletes. Thirty-four members of a national football academy (age: 14.4 ± 0.1 years) were randomly assigned to a training (VIS; n = 18) or a control group (CON; n = 16). In addition to the football training, the VIS completed a video-based visual training twice a week over a period of six weeks during the competition phase. Using the temporal occlusion technique, the players were instructed to react on one-on-one situations shown in 40 videos. The number of successful decisions and the response time were measured with a video-based test. In addition, the reactive-agility sprint test was used. VIS significantly improved the number of successful decisions (22.2 ± 3.6 s vs. 29.8 ± 4.5 s; p < 0.001), response time (0.41 ± 0.10 s vs. 0.31 ± 0.10 s; p = 0.006) and reactive agility (2.22 ± 0.33 s vs. 1.94 ± 0.11 s; p = 0.001) pre- vs. post-training. No significant differences were found for CON. The results have shown that video-based visual training improves the time to make decisions as well as reactive agility sprint-time, accompanied by an increase in successful decisions. It remains to be shown whether or not such training can improve simulated or actual game performance.

Web-based information and communication technologies enable the inclusion of all stakeholders in sustainable regional development and raise hopes that these processes will be accomplished from the bottom up and with broad public participation. This article synthesizes, presents, and critically discusses solutions for the Alps that use web 2.0 technologies, in particular: (a) GALPIS and DIAMONT with databases and an interactive webGIS, (b) mountain.TRIP as an efficient communication and information system to link research with practice, and (c) mountain wikis as tools for collaborative regional planning and development. The results indicate that new information and communication instruments enhance the implementation, promotion, assessment, and steering of sustainable regional development in the Alps.

In 2013, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) announced plans to discontinue the delivery of letters and flats on Saturdays, while continuing parcels delivery (“plan 5+”). This would lead to sharply reduced street times on Saturdays, and to a shift of workload from Saturdays to other weekdays, in particular Mondays. Understanding the net effects of modified delivery schedules and reduced delivery frequency concerns an increasing number of postal operators worldwide. This contribution may hence shed some light on the issue optimizing delivery frequency as a response to declining letter volumes.

Secondary radiation, emitted during and after the irradiation of corneal, dermal, and dental tissue by an ArF-excimer laser (193 nm), was qualitatively and quantitatively characterized. Emission of secondary radiation was found in the range of 200-800 nm. The intensity of secondary radiation in the range of 200-315 nm (UVC and UVB) is approximately 20% of the total intensity at high laser fluences (> 2 J/cm2), and approximately 50% at moderate laser fluences ( 5 J/cm2) are required. As a consequence, laser-induced plasma formation can be observed. Secondary radiation can be used as a visible guide for selective removal of carious altered tissue. The data we have found might be of assistance in estimating potential hazards for future mutagenic studies in the field.

The multiport illumination system was developed as a fiberoptically illuminated pars plana cannula system for vitreous surgery. The retinal irradiance of the multiport illumination system and several other commonly used endoilluminators (light pipes) measured at 5 mm are comparable, ranging from 94 to 256 mW/cm 2 . In the actual surgical setting, however, the retinal irradiance of the multiport illumination system is far less (56 mW/cm 2 ) because the end of the fiberoptic cables are fixated in the pars plana 16.5 mm away from the retinal surface. A reduction in the maximal intensity (100%) to 50% reduces the retinal irradiance by approximately two thirds to 3.7 mW/cm 2 . The light emitted by the multiport illumination system used in conjunction with a long-wave pass filter with a cutoff wavelength of 420 nm reduces the amount of short-wavelength light by one third to about 4% of the overall irradiance.

Climate change and the call for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the efficient use of (renewable) energy, and more resilient winter tourism regions, forces ski resorts across the European Alps to look for &ldquo, smart&rdquo, approaches to transition towards a sustainable, low-carbon economy. Drawing on the smart-city concept and considering the different historical developments of Alpine resorts, the Smart Altitude Decision-Making Toolkit was developed using a combination of an energy audit tool, a WebGIS, and collaborative and innovative living labs installed in Les Orres (France), Madonna di Campiglio (Italy), Krvavec (Slovenia), and Verbier (Switzerland). This step-by-step Decision-Making Toolkit enables ski resorts to get feedback on their energy demand, an overview of the locally available sources of renewable energy, and insights regarding their potential for improving their energy efficiency by low-carbon interventions. The Decision-Making Toolkit is suitable for knowledge transfer between stakeholders within living labs and moreover provides the flexibility for tailor-made low-carbon strategies adapting to the unique assets and situatedness of ski resorts.