Different arguments, same conclusions: how is action against invasive alien species justified in the context of European policy?

The prevention and management of invasive alien species (IAS) has become a high priority in European environmental policy. At the same time, ways of evaluating IAS continue to be a topic of lively debate. In particular, it is far from clear how directly policy makers’ value judgements are linked to the European (EU) policy against IAS. We examine the arguments used to support value judgements of both alien species and invasive alien species as well as the relation between these value judgements and the policy against IAS being developed at European level. Our study is based on 17 semi-structured interviews with experts from EU policy making and from the EU member states Austria, Belgium, Germany and Hungary. We found that our interviewees conceived of IAS in very different ways, expressed a variety of visions of biodiversity and ecosystem services, and adhered to widely different values expressed in their perceptions of IAS and the impacts of IAS. However, only some of these conceptualizations and value judgements are actually addressed in the rationale given in the preamble to the European IAS Regulation. Although value judgements about IAS differed, there was considerable agreement regarding the kind of action to be taken against them. © 2016 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrech

The role of the proteasome in the generation of MHC class I ligands and immune responses

The ubiquitin–proteasome system (UPS) degrades intracellular proteins into peptide fragments that can be presented by major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules. While the UPS is functional in all mammalian cells, its subunit composition differs depending on cell type and stimuli received. Thus, cells of the hematopoietic lineage and cells exposed to (pro)inflammatory cytokines express three proteasome immunosubunits, which form the catalytic centers of immunoproteasomes, and the proteasome activator PA28. Cortical thymic epithelial cells express a thymus-specific proteasome subunit that induces the assembly of thymoproteasomes. We here review new developments regarding the role of these different proteasome components in MHC class I antigen processing, T cell repertoire selection and CD8 T cell responses. We further discuss recently discovered functions of proteasomes in peptide splicing, lymphocyte survival and the regulation of cytokine production and inflammatory responses

Identification of Mammalian Protein Quality Control Factors by High-Throughput Cellular Imaging

Protein Quality Control (PQC) pathways are essential to maintain the equilibrium between protein folding and the clearance of misfolded proteins. In order to discover novel human PQC factors, we developed a high-content, high-throughput cell-based assay to assess PQC activity. The assay is based on a fluorescently tagged, temperature sensitive PQC substrate and measures its degradation relative to a temperature insensitive internal control. In a targeted screen of 1591 siRNA genes involved in the Ubiquitin-Proteasome System (UPS) we identified 25 of the 33 genes encoding for 26S proteasome subunits and discovered several novel PQC factors. An unbiased genome-wide siRNA screen revealed the protein translation machinery, and in particular the EIF3 translation initiation complex, as a novel key modulator of misfolded protein stability. These results represent a comprehensive unbiased survey of human PQC components and establish an experimental tool for the discovery of genes that are required for the degradation of misfolded proteins under conditions of proteotoxic stress

A Novel Testis-specific GTPase Serves as a Link to Proteasome Biogenesis: Functional Characterization of RhoS/RSA-14-44 in Spermatogenesis

We functionally characterized RhoS/RSA-14-44 as a new member of Rho GTPase subfamily in spermatogenesis, which provides a direct link between Rho family GTPase and the proteasome biogenesis

Indicators and Rating Systems for Sustainable Smart Cities

The sustainability and the smartness of cities must be objectively mea-sured starting from real observations. Only in this way is it really possible to mea-sure progress or identify critical elements of the development policies adopted. This chapter addresses the issue of indicators and rating systems that can be constructed from them. After a general introduction on the indicators, international standards designed to promote sustainability in cities and to support actions related to SDGs will be analysed. Subsequently, the most widespread ranking systems will be considered, and some case studies of their application will be proposed