Die Fliege des Aristoteles: Tradition und Revolution in der Wissenschaft

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Spatial development policy in the European Constitutional Treaty: position paper from the ARL, Hanover

As the implementation of the European single market has continued, it has become increasingly clear that a more closely integrated Europe cannot simply have an exclusively economic dimension. For a harmonious overall development, a large number of other policy areas clearly have to be included. One of these is spatial policy (spatial development policy), which aims to contribute to a more balanced spatial development. In the view of the ARL, the time has now come to initiate the institutional steps which have thus far emerged from the Europe-wide debate. The "territorial cohesion" of the Union cannot be achieved until we have clear legal foundations and definitions, which must also apply to spatial development policy in Europe. For that reason, the constitutional aspects of a European spatial development policy must form part of the agenda of the European Constitutional Convention.Mit der fortschreitenden Verwirklichung des Europäischen Binnenmarktes ist im Laufe der Zeit immer deutlicher geworden, dass das zusammenwachsende Europa nicht lediglich eine ökonomische Dimension haben kann, sondern dass für eine harmonische Gesamtentwicklung zahlreiche weitere Politikfelder einbezogen werden müssen. Dazu gehört auch die Raumpolitik (Raumentwicklungspolitik) mit dem Ziel einer ausgewogenen räumlichen Entwicklung. Nach Auffassung der Akademie ist es an der Zeit, aus dem bisherigen europaweiten Diskussionsstand endlich institutionelle Konsequenzen zu ziehen. Der "territoriale Zusammenhalt" der Union kann nicht gesichert werden, solange es keine klaren rechtlichen Grundlagen und Abgrenzungen auch für die Raumentwicklungspolitik in Europa gibt. Deshalb gehören die konstitutionellen Fragen einer europäischen Raumentwicklungspolitik auf die Agenda des Europäischen Verfassungskonvents.L'achèvement progressif du Grand marché intérieur de l'Union européenne a fait ressortir de plus en plus clairement au fil du temps que l'Europe, en s'intégrant, ne doit pas se limiter à la seule dimension économique. Son évolution harmonieuse globale requiert plutôt une approche qui englobe de nombreux autres champs politiques comme par exemple la politique spatiale (politique de développement de l'espace) envisageant un développement spatial équilibré. De l'avis de l'ARL, il est temps de tirer enfin des conclusions d'ordre institutionnel de l'état d'avancement des discussions en Europe. Il ne sera pas possible d'assurer la "cohésion territoriale" de l'Union européenne sans avoir créé des bases et des délimitations juridiques claires pour la politique du développement de l'espace européen. C'est pourquoi il appartient à la Convention européenne de traiter les questions constitutionnelles relatives à la politique européenne de développement de l'espace

Urban sustainability transitions in a context of multi-level governance: A comparison of four European states

Urban sustainability transitions have attracted increasing academic interest. However, the political-institutional contexts, in which these urban sustainability transitions unfold and by which they are incited, shaped, or inhibited, have received much less attention. This is why we aim at extending previous studies of sustainability transitions by incorporating a multi-level governance perspective. While multi-level governance has been a long-standing theme in political science research, it has remained under-explored in the study of sustainability transitions. This claim is the starting point of our comparative analysis of urban sustainability transitions in Brighton (UK), Dresden (Germany), Genk (Belgium) and Stockholm (Sweden). Our approach “brings the politics back in” by elucidating the dynamics of power concentration and power dispersion generated by different national governance contexts. In our analysis, we explore which opportunities and obstacles these diverse governance contexts provide for urban sustainability transitions

ESA Voyage 2050 White Paper: Detecting life outside our solar system with a large high-contrast-imaging mission

In this white paper, we recommend the European Space Agency plays a proactive role in developing a global collaborative effort to construct a large high-contrast imaging space telescope, e.g. as currently under study by NASA. Such a mission will be needed to characterize a sizable sample of temperate Earth-like planets in the habitable zones of nearby Sun-like stars and to search for extraterrestrial biological activity. We provide an overview of relevant European expertise, and advocate ESA to start a technology development program towards detecting life outside the Solar system

The Cost of Virulence: Retarded Growth of Salmonella Typhimurium Cells Expressing Type III Secretion System 1

Virulence factors generally enhance a pathogen's fitness and thereby foster transmission. However, most studies of pathogen fitness have been performed by averaging the phenotypes over large populations. Here, we have analyzed the fitness costs of virulence factor expression by Salmonella enterica subspecies I serovar Typhimurium in simple culture experiments. The type III secretion system ttss-1, a cardinal virulence factor for eliciting Salmonella diarrhea, is expressed by just a fraction of the S. Typhimurium population, yielding a mixture of cells that either express ttss-1 (TTSS-1+ phenotype) or not (TTSS-1− phenotype). Here, we studied in vitro the TTSS-1+ phenotype at the single cell level using fluorescent protein reporters. The regulator hilA controlled the fraction of TTSS-1+ individuals and their ttss-1 expression level. Strikingly, cells of the TTSS-1+ phenotype grew slower than cells of the TTSS-1− phenotype. The growth retardation was at least partially attributable to the expression of TTSS-1 effector and/or translocon proteins. In spite of this growth penalty, the TTSS-1+ subpopulation increased from <10% to approx. 60% during the late logarithmic growth phase of an LB batch culture. This was attributable to an increasing initiation rate of ttss-1 expression, in response to environmental cues accumulating during this growth phase, as shown by experimental data and mathematical modeling. Finally, hilA and hilD mutants, which form only fast-growing TTSS-1− cells, outcompeted wild type S. Typhimurium in mixed cultures. Our data demonstrated that virulence factor expression imposes a growth penalty in a non-host environment. This raises important questions about compensating mechanisms during host infection which ensure successful propagation of the genotype