Roland W. Scholz

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Scholz

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Roland W.

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0000-0003-2506-3254

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Publications 1 - 10 of 19

The paradigm of human-environment systems
Scholz, Roland W.; Binder, Claudia R. (2003)
UNS-Working Paper
Human-environment systems (HES) are all environmental and technological systems that are relevant for or affected by humans. This paper presents a process structure model (PSM) to investigate regulatory, feedback, and control mechanisms (RFC-mechanisms) in HES. The model separates human and environmental systems. The interaction between both sys tems is given by the environmental awareness of humans and the short- and long-term envi ronmental impacts and feedback loops of human action. Human decision-making is considered a key factor in this model, as humans can regulate and control the type of interaction within HES. The model distinguishes between goal formation, strategy building, strategy evaluation, action, and evaluation/learning. The environmental system reacts and gives feedback to hu man action, allowing for humans to learn and adapt their behavior. Evaluation/learning is based on the feedbacks of the environmental system to human action. We distinguish various types of environmental awareness and learning, which differ with respect to time and spatial ranges (primary and secondary feedback loops). Human systems are conceptualized on a multi level hierarchy including cell, organ, individual, group, organization, and society a systems. Each level differs in its regulatory and control options regarding HES, as well as in the perceived envi ronmental feedback. We illustrate the model with an example from environmental hygiene
Judgements on health hazards to soil contamination by exposed and notexposed residents
Scholz, Roland W.; Weber, Olaf (2001)
UNS-Working Paper
72 subjects provided ratings on becoming personally affected by health hazards from contaminated garden soil. Half of the subjects lived on former sewage fields with high loads of Cadmium (Cd) and Benz(a)pyrene (BaP); the other half were a control group. Exposure (exposed vs. not-exposed), knowledge about the risk (Cd: ‘complete’ vs. BaP: ‘incomplete’ knowledge) and type of risk information (verbal, numerical, graphical) varied. Judgments were provided before and after (prior-post) presenting the risk information. There was a significant prior-post effect. The subjects’ probability judgments increased after the risk information was given though the given information indicated that the judgments should be lowered. The prior-post difference did not significantly vary between the groups given verbal, numerical, and graphical informa tion. Not-exposed subjects behaved according to an availability hypothesis. They rated the bet ter-known risk to be higher, whereas exposed subjects’ judgments did not differentiate be tween the complete (Cd) and the incomplete known (BaP) toxicant. Post hoc analyses suggest that subjects‘ ratings and information processing depends more on the assumed credibility of both the threat and the information, than on the numerical information provided. Moreover, the direction of credibility has a counter-intuitive influence. Having high credibility to a threat make it less likely that quantitative information on risks will be in corporated in judgment.
Autoactivation of Transforming Growth Factor β-activated Kinase 1 Is a Sequential Bimolecular Process
Scholz, Roland W.; Sidler, Corinne L.; Thali, Ramon F.; et al. (2010)
Journal of Biological Chemistry
Transforming growth factor-β-activated kinase 1 (TAK1), an MAP3K, is a key player in processing a multitude of inflammatory stimuli. TAK1 autoactivation involves the interplay with TAK1-binding proteins (TAB), e.g. TBL1 and TBL2, and phosphorylation of several activation segment residues. However, the TAK1 autoactivation is not yet fully understood on the molecular level due to the static nature of available x-ray structural data and the complexity of cellular systems applied for investigation. Here, we established a bacterial expression system to generate recombinant mammalian TAK1 complexes. Co-expression of TAK1 and TBL1, but not TBL2, resulted in a functional and active TAK1-TBL1 complex capable of directly activating full-length heterotrimeric mammalian AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) in vitro. TAK1-dependent AMPK activation was mediated via hydrophobic residues of the AMPK kinase domain αG-helix as observed in vitro and in transfected cell culture. Co-immunoprecipitation of differently epitope-tagged TAK1 from transfected cells and mutation of hydrophobic αG-helix residues in TAK1 point to an intermolecular mechanism of TBL1-induced TAK1 autoactivation, as TAK1 autophosphorylation of the activation segment was impaired in these mutants. TBL1 phosphorylation was enhanced in a subset of these mutants, indicating a critical role of αG-helix residues in this process. Analyses of phosphorylation site mutants of the activation segment indicate that autophosphorylation of Ser-192 precedes TBL1 phosphorylation and is followed by sequential phosphorylation of Thr-178, Thr-187, and finally Thr-184. Finally, we present a model for the chronological order of events governing TBL1-induced TAK1 autoactivation.
Effektivität, Effizienz und Verhältnismässigkeit als Kriterien der Altlastenbearbeitung
Scholz, Roland W.; Scholz, Roland W. (1996)
UNS-Working Paper
Die Begriffe Effektivität, Effizienz und Verhältnismässigkeit werden definiert. Es wird zwi schen Verhältnismässigkeit im engeren Sinne (ieS) und Verhältnismässigkeit im weiteren Sinne (iwS) unterschieden. Der Wert dieser Begriffe für den Vollzug, insbesondere für dessen Transpa renz und Rechtssicherheit wird aufgezeigt. Aus den unterschiedlichen Raum-Zeit-Bezügen der Altlastenbearbeitung der beteiligten Akteure ergeben sich unterschiedliche Effektivitäts- bzw. Wirksamkeitsbetrachtungen. Es wird plädiert, zunächst für alle Akteure die Wirkung (d.h. den Effekt) einer Altlastensanierung aufzuzeigen und eine akteursbezogene Effizienzoptimierung vorzunehmen. Danach ist im Sinne der Verhältnismässigkeit (ieS) ein güter- bzw. interessenbe zogener Abwägungsprozess vorzunehmen. Das Amt hat in diesem Prozess zwei Funktionen: a) es muss das langfristige gesellschaftliche Interesse (im Sinne einer kantonalen Nachhal tigkeit) vertreten, b) es muss im Sinne der Verhältnismässigkeit (ieS) einzelfallbezogen die Abwä gung zwischen den Interessen vornehmen. Dem Dialog zwischen den Akteuren kommt als be gleitender Prozess eine grosse Bedeutung zu.
Does Good Environmental Performance reduce Credit Risk? – Empirical Evidence from Europe’s Banking Sector
Fenchel, Marcus; Scholz, Roland W.; Weber, Olaf (2003)
UNS-Working Paper
About 15 years ago, banks started to integrate Environmental Risks (ER) in their credit risk valuation procedures in an explicit way. However, it is still unclear if this strategy pays back from a credit management point of view. We present a survey in the European banking sector. We ran the survey in 2002 and it encompasses questionnaires from 50 banks. The inquiry fo cused on the analysis of the integration of ER in all phases of the credit risk management proc ess. Thus the study goes beyond prior research that focused almost exclusively on the rating phase and ignored the other phases of costing, pricing, monitoring and work out. We compared banks that are proactive in terms of the management of ER with banks that consider ER as an issue of low importance to their business. The results of our study show that making use of the environmental performance of borrowers as an indicator for credit risk is beneficial, as it (i) re duces the workload in the work out phase, caused by bad credits and (ii) accomplishes the cost benefit condition.
Practical training as part of higher environmental education
Scholz, Roland W.; Steiner, Regula; Hansmann, Ralph (2001)
UNS-Working Paper
Role and benefits of a compulsory practical training in environmental science education are investigated with respect to the three institutional goals of university education, i.e. (1) reproduction of research, (2) professional edu cation, and (3) general natural science education. An empirical survey is presented showing which student qualifica tions are improved by a practical training complementary to traditional university education. The survey assesses 14 qualifications of students who participated in a compulsory 15-week practical training in the 5-year diploma program in environmental sciences at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zürich), Switzerland. Pre- and post prac tical training questionnaires of 478 students and 293 supervisors from practice are included. Vocational training im proves qualifications complementary to conventional university education in particular, general abilities and key qualification, such as communication skills, report writing, organization of work, and information acquisition. Also salient qualifications of complex environmental problem solving such as the ability to deal with uncertainty and to detect relevant aspects are promoted (by the practical training). The results suggest that practical training is of high value for professional education and enhances general key qualifications such as the ability to operate independ ently. However, practical training also enhances students‘ complex problem solving ability under uncertainty, which is of importance for the development of research capability in the field of environmental sciences, too.
Is group performance improved by evaluating task difficulty and by knowing about the differential effects of community?
Hansmann, Ralph; Crott, Helmut W.; Mieg, Harald A.; et al. (2003)
UNS-Working Paper
A field experiment investigated whether group performance is improved when the sub jects a) individually conduct an evaluation of task difficulty before entering the process of group decision making and/or b) know about a result from group decision making research which suggests that conformity has a positive impact in easy tasks but negative impact in diffi cult tasks (Grofman, 1978; Thomas & Fink, 1961). Twenty-eight groups of three or four persons worked on judgmental tasks related to an environmental planning project in which they were participating for several months. Group judgements were significantly improved when subjects were advised to evaluate the task difficulty before entering group decision making compared to a set of control groups. The interpretation focuses on cognitive aspects of the evaluation pro cedure, which might counteract anchoring effects and enhance the generation of arguments. Though the trend was in line with the hypothesis, there was no significant result with respect to the information on the differential effects of conformity pressure in easy versus difficult tasks. A post-experimental questionnaire revealed that most of the subjects did not know about the differential effects of group conformity but considered a task difficulty analysis to be helpful and supportive for group decision making.
Grenzwert und Risiko: Probleme der Wahrnehmung und des Handelns
Scholz, Roland W.; Scholz, Roland W. (1995)
UNS-Working Paper
Transition process towards improved regional wood flow by integrating material flux analysis and agent analysis: The case of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Switzerland
Binder, Claudia R.; Hofer, Christoph; Wiek, Arnim; et al. (2003)
UNS-Working Paper
This paper discusses the integration of material flux analysis and agent analysis as a pre requisite for a transition process towards improved regional wood management in Appenzell Ausserrhoden (AR), a small Swiss canton (i.e., state) with 93 square miles located in the Pre-Alps of Switzerland. We present a wood-flow analysis for forests, wood processing industries and consumption in AR, accounting for different wooden goods. We find, that the forest is currently significantly underutilized despite of considerable imports of wood and energy to this small region. The wood resources, however, would be sufficient to satisfy the total current wood de mand of the population in AR. These wood resources are not being utilized for two main rea sons: first, wood prices are so low that harvesting trees is a deficit; second, consumer wood demand (mostly hard wood) and the current supply by forest owners (mostly softwood) are not aligned to each other. In addition, cultural values and traditions such as organizational struc ture of forest owners, where each owner has a small piece of forest at 1.2 ha and lifestyle trends of consumers and construction industries make an alignment of demand and supply not an easy step to take. Consensus and strategy building on the basis of the obtained results of the wood flow analysis and agent analysis is a reasonable next step to take. We conclude that wood flow analysis combined with agent analysis is a useful and straightforward tool for en suring a successful transition process towards improved regional wood flows.
Models in Environ mental Planning: Selection of Impact Variables and Esti mation of Impacts
Hansmann, Ralph; Mieg, Harald A.; Crott, Helmut W.; et al. (2002)
UNS-Working Paper
This paper includes an experiment concerning the selection of impact variables in envi ronmental planning and two uniform group experiments concerning the quality of group esti mates of impacts. Participants were students of environmental sciences at ETH Zurich. Experi ment 1 revealed that during participation in an environmental case study, students’ individual estimates of impacts of expert selected variables increased, as compared to the estimates of im pacts of variables selected by students. Further impacts were estimated in two group experi ments. The quality of the estimates was analyzed referring to expert estimates. Individual esti mates at the end of group discussions and group estimates were more accurate than prediscus sion estimates. However, within group means of the individual prediscussion estimates were as accurate as group estimates. A higher accuracy was obtained by the mean group estimates ag gregated over all groups.

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Roland W. Scholz

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