Storytelling in den Vereinten Nationen: Mahbub ul Haq und menschliche Entwicklung

Ausgehend von der Beobachtung, dass Mitarbeiter der Vereinten Nationen eine wichtige Rolle in Prozessen des ideellen Wandels auf internationaler Ebene spielen können, beschäftigt sich dieser Beitrag mit einer bestimmten Form individuellem Einflusses – dem storytelling. Mein Verständnis von storytelling als Einflusstaktik kombiniert dabei kollektive Elemente der soziologischen Praxistheorie mit den reflexiven, akteursbezogenen Überlegungen von Michel de Certeau. Ich analysiere storytelling anhand von drei analytischen Elementen: einem (chronologischen) Plot, einer Reihe von Charakteren und einem interpretativen Thema – die jeweils ihre Wirkung im Zusammenspiel mit der Subjektivität ihres storytellers entfalten. Ich illustriere diese theoretischen Überlegungen mit dem Fall von Mahbub ul Haq, dem es als Sonderberater des United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)-Administrators zu Beginn der 1990er Jahre gelungen ist, die Idee der menschlichen Entwicklung im System der Vereinten Nationen und der internationalen Entwicklungspolitik zu etablieren

Eukaryotic richness in the abyss: insights from pyrotag sequencing

Background: The deep sea floor is considered one of the most diverse ecosystems on Earth. Recent environmental DNA surveys based on clone libraries of rRNA genes confirm this observation and reveal a high diversity of eukaryotes present in deep-sea sediment samples. However, environmental clone-library surveys yield only a modest number of sequences with which to evaluate the diversity of abyssal eukaryotes. Methodology/Principal Findings: Here, we examined the richness of eukaryotic DNA in deep Arctic and Southern Ocean samples using massively parallel sequencing of the 18S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) V9 hypervariable region. In very small volumes of sediments, ranging from 0.35 to 0.7 g, we recovered up to 7,499 unique sequences per sample. By clustering sequences having up to 3 differences, we observed from 942 to 1756 Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) per sample. Taxonomic analyses of these OTUs showed that DNA of all major groups of eukaryotes is represented at the deep-sea floor. The dinoflagellates, cercozoans, ciliates, and euglenozoans predominate, contributing to 17%, 16%, 10%, and 8% of all assigned OTUs, respectively. Interestingly, many sequences represent photosynthetic taxa or are similar to those reported from the environmental surveys of surface waters. Moreover, each sample contained from 31 to 71 different metazoan OTUs despite the small sample volume collected. This indicates that a significant faction of the eukaryotic DNA sequences likely do not belong to living organisms, but represent either free, extracellular DNA or remains and resting stages of planktonic species. Conclusions/Significance: In view of our study, the deep-sea floor appears as a global DNA repository, which preserves genetic information about organisms living in the sediment, as well as in the water column above it. This information can be used for future monitoring of past and present environmental changes.French ANR Aquaparadox; ANR DeepOases; Swiss National Science Foundation [31003A-125372]; WM Keck foundationinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Molecular crosstalk between a chemical and a biological stressor and consequences on disease manifestation in rainbow trout

The aim of the present study was to examine the molecular and organism reaction of rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, to the combined impact of two environmental stressors. The two stressors were the myxozoan parasite, Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae, which is the etiological agent of proliferative kidney disease (PKD) and a natural stressor to salmonid populations, and 17β-estradiol (E2) as prototype of estrogen-active chemical stressors in the aquatic environment. Both stressors, the parasite and estrogenic contaminants, co-exist in Swiss rivers and are discussed as factors contributing to the decline of Swiss brown trout populations over the last decades. Using a microarray approach contrasting parasite-infected and non-infected rainbow trout at low or high estrogen levels, it was observed that molecular response patterns under joint exposure differed from those to the single stressors. More specifically, three major response patterns were present: (i) expression responses of gene transcripts to one stressor are weakened by the presence of the second stressor; (ii) expression responses of gene transcripts to one stressor are enhanced by the presence of the second stressor; (iii) expression responses of gene transcripts at joint treatment are dominated by one of the two stressors. Organism-level responses to concurrent E2 and parasite treatment – assessed through measuring parasite loads in the fish host and cumulative mortalities of trout – were dominated by the pathogen, with no modulating influence of E2. The findings reveal function- and level-specific responses of rainbow trout to stressor combinations, which are only partly predictable from the response to the single stressors

Assessment of estrogenic exposure in brown trout (Salmo trutta) in a Swiss midland river : integrated analysis of passive samplers, wild and caged fish, and vitellogenin mRNA and protein

This field study examined the vitellogenin (VTG) biomarker response under conditions of low and fluctuating activities of environmental estrogenicity. The present study was performed on immature brown trout (Salmo trutta) exposed to the small river Luetzelmurg, which is located in the prealpine Swiss midland region and receives effluents from a single sewage treatment plant (STP). To understand better factors influencing the relationship between estrogenic exposure and VTG induction, we compared VTG levels in caged (stationary) and feral (free-ranging) fish, VTG levels in fish from up- and downstream of the STP, and two different methods for quantifying VTG (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay vs real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction), and we used passive samplers (polar organic chemical integrative sampler [POCIS]) to integrate the variable, bioaccumulative estrogenic load in the river water over time. The POCIS from the downstream site contained approximately 20-fold higher levels of bioassay-derived estrogen equivalents than the POCIS from the upstream site. In feral fish, this site difference in estrogenic exposure was reflected in VTG protein levels but not in VTG mRNA. In contrast, in caged fish, the site difference was evident only for VTG mRNA but not for VTG protein. Thus, the outcome of VTG biomarker measurements varied with the analytical detection method (protein vs mRNA) and with the exposure modus (caged vs feral). Our findings suggest that for environmental situations with low and variable estrogenic contamination, a multiple-assessment approach may be necessary for the assessment of estrogenic exposure in fish