The 1985 catastrophic drainage of a moraine-dammed lake, Khumbu Himal, Nepal: cause and consequences

On 4 August 1985 Dig Tsho, a moraine-dammed glacial lake in the Khumbu area of eastern Nepal, burst above Thame. For the region close to the origin of the outbreak the consequences were catastrophic. The destruction of a newly built hydroelectricp ower plant, 14 bridges, about 30 houses, and many hectares of valuable arable land, as well as a heavily damaged trail network, resulted from 5 million m3 of water plummetting down the Bhote Kosi and Dudh Kosi valleys. The breaching of the moraine was triggered by wave action following an ice avalanche of 150,000 m3 into the lake. The surge had a peak discharge of 1,600 m3/sec; 3 million m3 of debris were moved within a distance of less than 40 km. However, only 10-15 percent of the material left the region as suspended load. The potential hazard of glacial lakes persists and increases. A hazard assessment including an identificationo f source areas and subsequent monitoring of glacial lakes is proposed. It should be incorporated into any development concept for the Himalayan region.

Linking a World Heritage Site to Sustainable Regional Development - Contested Natures in a Local Negotiation Process

Based on the candidature of a region in the Swiss Alps as a World Natural Heritage Site (WHS), this article outlines the negotiation process as reflected in the local media. Discussions of the World Heritage issue over a time span of 4 years revealed how the region concerned was discursively constructed and that discursive constructions implied specific views of nature. By elaborating on these conflicting views of nature, we intend to reflect on the implicit meanings that influenced and structured the debate about the WHS and more generally the issues of sustainable regional development. The results show a broadening of the debate from a rather fragmented toward a more inclusive view of nature, which relates to basic assumptions of the global discourse on sustainable development. Additionally, a view of nature as inherited from past generations extended the WHS discussion and thus gave a new dimension to the concept of sustainability.

Coronary artery disease, nitric oxide and oxidative stress: the "Yin-Yang" effect--a Chinese concept for a worldwide pandemic

Prevention of coronary artery disease (CAD) and reduction of its mortality and morbidity remains a major public health challenge throughout the "Western world". Recent evidence supports the concept that the impairment of endothelial function, a hallmark of insulin resistance states, is an upstream event in the pathophysiology of insulin resistance and its main corollaries: atherosclerosis and myocardial infarction. Atherosclerosis is currently thought to be the consequence of a subtle imbalance between pro- and anti-oxidants that produces favourable conditions for lesion progression towards acute thrombotic complications and clinical events. Over the last decade, a remarkable burst of evidence has accumulated, offering the new perspective that bioavailable nitric oxide (NO) plays a pivotal role throughout the CAD-spectrum, from its genesis to the outcome after acute events. Vascular NO is a critical modulator of coronary blood flow by inhibiting smooth muscle contraction and platelet aggregation. It also acts in angiogenesis and cytoprotection. Defective endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) driven NO synthesis causes development of major cardiovascular risk factors (insulin resistance, arterial hypertension and dyslipidaemia) in mice, and characterises CAD-prone insulin-resistant humans. On the other hand, stimulation of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and NO overproduction causes metabolic insulin resistance and characterises atherosclerosis, heart failure and cardiogenic shock in humans, suggesting a "Yin-Yang" effect of NO in the cardiovascular homeostasis. Here, we will present a concise overview of the evidence for this novel concept, providing the conceptual framework for developing a potential therapeutic strategy to prevent and treat CAD.

Structural aspects of postnatal lung development - alveolar formation and growth

The human lung is born with a fraction of the adult complement of alveoli. The postnatal stages of human lung development comprise an alveolar stage, a stage of microvascular maturation, and very likely a stage of late alveolarization. The characteristic structural features of the alveolar stage are well known; they are very alike in human and rat lungs. The bases for alveolar formation are represented by immature inter-airspace walls with two capillary layers with a central sheet of connective tissue. Interalveolar septa are formed by folding up of one of the two capillary layers. In the alveolar stage, alveolar formation occurs rapidly and is typically very conspicuous in both species; it has therefore been termed 'bulk alveolarization'. During and after alveolarization the septa with double capillary networks are restructured to the mature form with a single network. This happens in the stage of microvascular maturation. After these steps the lung proceeds to a phase of growth during which capillary growth by intussusception plays an important role in supporting gas exchange. In view of reports that alveoli are added after the stage of microvascular maturation, the question arises whether the present concept of alveolar formation needs revision. On the basis of morphological and experimental findings we can state that mature lungs contain all the features needed for 'late alveolarization' by the classical septation process. Because of the high plasticity of the lung tissues, late alveolarization or some forms of compensatory alveolar formation may be considered for the human lung.

[Femoroacetabular impingement: trigger for the development of coxarthrosis]

Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) is frequent; the estimated prevalence ranges between 10 and 15%. Our 10-years experience strongly suggests that FAI leads to osteoarthritis. Isolated acetabular or femoral abnormalities are rare, even though in women acetabular and in men femoral abnormalities predominate. Normal radiographs do not exclude the presence of FAI. Symptoms are related to the degree of deformity and occur earlier in the presence of activities requiring high levels of motion. The majority of patients with FAI are under the age of 40 years.In contrast to impingement in total hip replacement, the natural hip is under much higher constraint, not allowing to escape from impingement-induced shear forces by subluxation or complete dislocation. FAI-induced shear forces due to an aspherical femoral head/neck (cam type) are therefore high, causing outside-in damage with cleavage lesions of the acetabular cartilage by forced flexion and internal rotation. The cartilage of the femoral head remains initially intact, which cannot be explained by the classic concept of osteoarthritis. After the femoral head has migrated into the acetabular cartilage defect, vertical forces contribute to the further course of osteoarthritis. Tears between the labrum and cartilage, as seen by MRI, are not avulsions of the labrum from the cartilage but rather outside-in avulsions of the cartilage from the labrum. In acetabular overcoverage (pincer type) the labrum is the first structure to fail and acetabular cartilage damage develops thereafter.The treatment of FAI in patients under the age of 40 years is aimed at joint preservation. The clinical result is worse in the presence of significant cartilage damage. Therefore, early appreciation of FAI and timely therapeutic intervention as well as professional and athletic adjustment are important if osteoarthritis is to be prevented.

Human experimental pain models in drug development: translational pain research

Human experimental pain models require standardized stimulation and quantitative assessment of the evoked responses. This approach can be applied to healthy volunteers and pain patients before and after pharmacological interventions. Standardized stimuli of different modalities (ie, mechanical, chemical, thermal or electrical) can be applied to the skin, muscles and viscera for a differentiated and comprehensive assessment of various pain pathways and mechanisms. Using a multi-modal, multi-tissue approach, new and existing analgesic drugs can be profiled by their modulation of specific biomarkers. It has been shown that biomarkers, for example, those related to the central integration of repetitive nociceptive stimuli, can predict efficacy of a given drug in neuropathic pain conditions. Human experimental pain models can bridge animal and clinical pain research, and act as translational research providing new possibilities for designing successful clinical trials. Proof-of-concept studies provide cheap, fast and reliable information on dose-efficacy relationships and how pain sensed in the skin, muscles and viscera are inhibited.

On producing and sharing knowledge across boundaries: experiences from the interfaces of an international development research network

The number of large research networks and programmes engaging in knowledge production for development has grown over the past years. One of these programmes devoted to generating knowledge about and for development is National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North–South, a cross-disciplinary, international development research network funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the Swiss National Science Foundation. Producing relevant knowledge for development is a core goal of the programme and an important motivation for many of the participating researchers. Over the years, the researchers have made use of various spaces for exchange and instruments for co-production of knowledge by academic and non-academic development actors. In this article we explore the characteristics of co-producing and sharing knowledge in interfaces between development research, policy and NCCR North–South practice. We draw on empirical material of the NCCR North–South programme and its specific programme element of the Partnership Actions. Our goal is to make use of the concept of the interface to reflect critically about the pursued strategies and instruments applied in producing and sharing knowledge for development across boundaries.

Promoting a functional physical self-concept in physical education: Evaluation of a 10-week intervention

Most physical education intervention studies on the positive effect of sports on self-concept development have attempted to increase schoolchildren’s self-concept without taking the veridicality of the self-concept into account. The present study investigated whether a 10-week intervention in physical education would lead to an increase not only in the general level of self-concept of endurance and self-concept of strength but also in its veridicality in those who had previously under- or overestimated their abilities. A total of 464 primary schoolchildren (246 boys, 218 girls, Mage = 11.9) either participated in the intervention or served as controls. The intervention group received endurance and strength training during physical education lessons carried out with a consistent individualized teacher frame of reference (iTFR). Results showed that this specific intervention was associated with increases not only in the general level of self-concept but also in its veridicality in under- and overestimators. Results are discussed in terms of didactic methods to promote functional self-concepts in physical education.