Raumkonstitution in jagdlicher Fachprosa der französischen Renaissance – Guillaume Budés "Traité de la vénerie" raumtheoretisch lesen

How did historical societies handle, arrange and imagine the environmental space they lived in both narrative and pragmatic literature provide abundant references on ways of structuring spatial knowledge in medieval and early modern occident. Besides supporting elements like the geographical map (Lestringant) the text itself has the capacity to represent, to speak about and even to produce “spaces”. As a medium of reflection on spatial concerns, texts offer a “place” for narrative imagination, progress of action and literary experience. A significant example of treating environment by producing narrative realm of experience is a treaty on the stag hunt ('vénerie') of Renaissance France. Originally written in Latin by the humanist Guillaume Budé in 1529 and dedicated to Francis I the “Traité de la vénerie” shows how literature can combine the discourse about space and space producing strategies. Hunting as traditional pastime of noble elites is not thinkable without the crucial link to two different dimensions of space. It unifies concrete geographical space – the royal forest – and abstract performative space − the ritual action. The present study deals with the question how the “Traité de la vénerie” produces and thinks both natural and cultural “spaces”: because in the act of hunting the original function of the forest is transformed into the confrontation place between huntsman und prey. By describing the gradual intersection of wooded space on the track of the deer Budé evokes not only a knowledge based space of action but a transformation of physical space in a plural area of action

Differential Effects of Iodoacetamide and Iodoacetate on Glycolysis and Glutathione Metabolism of Cultured Astrocytes

Iodoacetamide (IAA) and iodoacetate (IA) have frequently been used to inhibit glycolysis, since these compounds are known for their ability to irreversibly inhibit the glycolytic enzyme glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH). However, the consequences of a treatment with such thiol reagents on the glutathione (GSH) metabolism of brain cells have not been explored. Exposure of astroglia-rich primary cultures to IAA or IA in concentrations of up to 1 mM deprived the cells of GSH, inhibited cellular GAPDH activity, lowered cellular lactate production and caused a delayed cell death that was detectable after 90 min of incubation. However, the two thiol reagents differed substantially in their potential to deprive cellular GSH and to inhibit astrocytic glycolysis. IAA depleted the cellular GSH content more efficiently than IA as demonstrated by half-maximal effects for IAA and IA that were observed at concentrations of about 10 and 100 μM, respectively. In contrast, IA was highly efficient in inactivating GAPDH and lactate production with half-maximal effects observed already at a concentration below 100 μM, whereas IAA had to be applied in 10 times higher concentration to inhibit lactate production by 50%. These substantial differences of IAA and IA to affect GSH content and glycolysis of cultured astrocytes suggest that in order to inhibit astrocytic glycolysis without substantially compromising the cellular GSH metabolism, IA – and not IAA – should be used in low concentrations and/or for short incubation periods

Grenzräume und Adel in der Frühen Neuzeit: Ein Problembericht am Beispiel der von der Leyen in Lothringen

When Anna Katharina Elisabeth von der Leyen (1652-1738) married the margrave of Haraucourt in 1669, she became a member of one of the most ancient families of the duchy of Lorraine. As for all noblewomen of that time, this marriage would be the first step into a new life: Anna Katharina left the place where she had grown up, a tiny territory of the Holy Roman Empire, to join her husband in the German district of Lorraine – just across “the border” – where she would soon be exposed to war and officially become a subject of French King Louis XIV. Obviously, in order to fulfil expectations, Anna Katharina crossed both social and territorial borders. In Lorraine, she got strongly connected to a new family acting within a different aristocratic group and geographical, political and linguistic space. Did territorial borders matter to nobility before the rise of the nation-state? Or did noble families live a rather “borderless” life as by status and traditional habits, they travelled a lot more than the commonalty? The paper examines the von der Leyen, a rather overseen regional family of the Holy Roman Empire, by drawing special emphasis on their degree of cross-border activity towards Lorraine. On the basis of historical record drawn from the archives in Coblenz, I discuss the potential as well as the problems of a nobility-based analysis of early modern borders which includes a critical examination of the term “border region” for prenational contexts. The paper also explores recent attempts to historize borders in the early modern era which are strongly connected to the question of the actual practices of border crossing. In this regard, it argues for a small-scale analysis of “regional” families to get closer to the crossing and perceptions of early modern borders. The study also shows the importance of availability of historical record on which early modernists strongly depend as information on border perception is scarce in an era when national borders were yet to come

La restructuration du commerce de détail en Saxe – où en sont les centres des grandes villes ?

Depuis la réunification allemande en 1990, le commerce de détail des nouveaux Länder a été complètement restructuré. Cette restructuration menée par des entreprises commerciales ouest-allemandes a conduit à une concurrence entre les centres-villes et les implantations extra-urbaines « auf der grünen Wiese ». Dans cette contribution, on traite de l’évolution du commerce de détail à Leipzig comme exemplaire de celui d’une grande ville saxonne. Tandis que les implantations périphériques ont pu enregistrer une croissance des surfaces de vente, les centres-villes des nouveaux Länder ont subi une énorme perte de fonction. Ce déséquilibre doit être combattu par la mise en place d’un concept de centres de quartiers dans le cadre du plan de développement urbain de Leipzig. L’objectif de ce concept est la création de centres de différentes natures qui doivent constituer de nouveaux pôles d’attraction pour l’ensemble de la ville. Dans l’avenir, le centre-ville doit jouer un rôle prééminent comme lieu d’achat pour la région de Halle-Leipzig-Dessau. Afin de le rendre plus attractif également pour les grandes entreprises on a réalisé à Leipzig un centre commercial intra-urbain, les « Promenaden Hauptbahnhof ». Grâce à cette revalorisation du centre-ville de Leipzig, celui-ci est redevenu de nouveau si attractif pour les grands magasins déjà installées que de nouvelles implantations ont pu être trouvées et que d’autres projets sont en cours de réalisation dans le centre-ville. A Dresde et à Chemnitz, les centres-villes doivent également connaître une augmentation de leur attractivité grâce à des centres commerciaux intra-urbains et par l’installation des grands magasins traditionnellement implantés dans les grandes villes saxonnes. On peut décrire les stratégies développées à Dresde, Chemnitz et Leipzig comme étant un retour aux traditions en relation avec de nouveaux concepts. Au commerce de détail est ainsi dévolu un rôle porteur mais non exclusif. Seule une combinaison entre la fonction commerciale et les fonctions centrales relevant de la culture, de la formation et des loisirs peut de nouveau faire des centres-villes des lieux d’achat et d’identification pour les habitants d’une ville.German reunification brought a complete alteration in the retail trade structures of the New Länder. This restructuring, forced by West German trading enterprises, led to a competitive situation between city centres and out-off town retailing. The aim of this contribution is to describe the urban development of Leipzig. Out-of-town retailing increased their sales areas until 1996, while city centres and traditional city districts were characterised by deficits. To counteract this imbalance a so-called « Stadtentwicklungsplan Zentren » is currently being brought into action as part of the urban planning guidelines. The aim of this programme is the embedding of centres within the urban boundary. Regeneration of the city centre as a main location of shopping is of prime importance. In order to attract retail capital to the city centre of Leipzig a project was initiated to bring the out-of-town’format into the centre. One of the projects carried out by private investors is the implementation of a shopping mall in the central railway station of Leipzig which is still in use. This increase in attractiveness triggered department stores (a main and traditional attraction of German city centres) to locate their facilities in the city centre. As in Leipzig, the town centre development of Dresden and Chemnitz is based on inner city shopping malls and department stores. Recollection of traditions as well as new concepts for retail trade structures, to counteract the loss of city functions, are the new strategies of urban development in Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz. Since only a combination of these functions will transform city centres into places of urban life, the new strategies are not only concerned with retail trade but also with other functions of a city centre such as culture, education and leisure facilities.Seit der politischen Wende 1990 wurde die Einzelhandelslandschaft in den neuen Bundesländern von Grund auf umstrukturiert. Diese Umstrukturierung, gefördert durch westdeutsche Handelsunternehmen, führte zu einer Konkurrenzsituation zwischen den Innenstädten und der Grünen Wiese. Beispielhaft wird in diesem Beitrag die Einzelhandelsentwicklung von Leipzig als einer sächsischen Großstadt aufgezeigt. Während periphere Standorte einen Verkaufsflächenzuwachs verzeichnen konnten, erlitten die Innenstädte und gewachsenen Stadtzentren der neuen Bundesländer bis 1996 einen enormen Funktionsverlust. Diesem Ungleichgewicht soll mit der Durchsetzung eines Stadtteilkonzeptes im Rahmen des Stadtentwicklungsplanes in Leipzig entgegengewirkt werden. Ziel dieses Konzeptes ist die Schaffung von Zentren unterschiedlicher Ausprägung, die neue räumliche Schwerpunkte in der Gesamtstadt bilden sollen. Zukünftig soll dabei die Innenstadt als Einkaufsstandort für die Region Halle-Leipzig-Dessau Vorrang haben. Um sie auch für große Unternehmen attraktiver zu machen, wurde in Leipzig das Projekt eines innerstädtischen Einkaufszentrum (Promenaden Hauptbahnhof) realisiert. Durch diese Aufwertung der Innenstadt wurde die Leipziger City für schon ansässige Warenhausunternehmen wieder so attraktiv, dass neue Standorte Für die Warenhäuser gefunden werden konnten und sich weitere Projekte in der Innenstadt in der Realisierung befinden. Auch in Dresden und Chemnitz sollen die Innenstädte eine Attraktivitätssteigerung durch innerstädtische Einkaufszentren und die Ansiedlung der in der sächsischen Großstädten traditionellen Warenhäuser erfahren. Man kann die Strategien in Dresden, Chemnitz und Leipzig mit einer Rückbesinnung auf alte Traditionen verbunden mit neuen Konzepten beschreiben. Dem Einzelhandel kommt dabei zwar eine tragende, aber nicht die alleinige Rolle zu. Nur eine Kombination der zentralrelevanten Funktionen Kultur, Bildung und Freizeit mit der Funktion Einkauf kann die Innenstädte wieder zu Orten des Einkaufs und der Identifikation der Bewohner einer Stadt machen

Integrated policy package assessment (IPPA): A problem-oriented research approach for sustainability transformations

In this paper, we present the Integrated Policy Package Assessment (IPPA) approach and relate IPPA to three substantial concepts of problem-oriented research concerned with societal transformations: technology assessment (TA), sustainability research (SR), and responsible research and innovation (RRI). The IPPA approach provides (political) decision-makers with transformation and orientation knowledge via a four-step process of (1) design, (2) analysis, (3) evaluation, and (4) discourse of a policy package assessment. It is illustrated with a case study of urban passenger transport. As an integrated approach, IPPA has substantial ties to TA, SR, and RRI. It connects with TA in fundamental ways, since it combines the field of TA with the field of regulatory assessment based on consequence analysis. Connectable to the field of SR, IPPA addresses deliberation processes and sustainable pathway identification based on multi-criteria assessment. In addition, akin to the area of RRI, IPPA shows cross-cutting axes with regards to social resonance assessment and stakeholder evaluation with a focus on multi-actor responsibilities. In this contribution, we link evidence-based impact assessment with transformation pathway mechanisms and corresponding policy packages, backed by stakeholder-based responsible innovation feedback loops. This enhances the ex-ante analysis of policy packages regarding their intended as well as unintended consequences

The Integrated Policy Package Assessment approach: elaborating ex ante knowledge in the feld of urban mobility

BACKGROUND: In response to climate change challenges, a main policy emphasis is on transitioning the energy system from high- to low-carbon energy supply. The German energy transition is first and foremost based on political decisions and interventions. These decisions need to be assessed ex ante to ensure a good governance approach to energy policies, for which this paper introduces the Integrated Policy Package Assessment approach (IPPA). IPPA consists of four steps: design, assessment, evaluation and discourse. RESULTS: The results section illustrates the IPPA framework by applying it to urban passenger transport as an example case. First, the design phase was used to elaborate two complementary policy packages each consisting of several policy measures in the transformation pathways of “multi- and inter-modality”, and “alternative drive”. Second, the individual measures of the packages were impact-analysed by a large number of individual impact studies from various disciplines. Synthesizing the individual study results, we developed an impact assessment matrix for impact evaluation. The matrix covers the impact categories: technology development, sector integration, environment, social resonance, and institutional factors. In a further step, the key findings of the impact assessment were reflected and reviewed from the perspectives of various stakeholders and practice experts through a practice–science dialogue on transforming the urban passenger transport system. CONCLUSIONS: The discussion and conclusion sections outline the main findings relating to content and process aspects, when applying the IPPA framework to a policy package in urban transport

Bacteriophages of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli and their contribution to pathogenicity

Shiga toxins (Stx) of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) are generally encoded in the genome of lambdoid bacteriophages, which spend the most time of their life cycle integrated as prophages in specific sites of the bacterial chromosome. Upon spontaneous induction or induction by chemical or physical stimuli, the stx genes are co-transcribed together with the late phase genes of the prophages. After being assembled in the cytoplasm, and after host cell lysis, mature bacteriophage particles are released into the environment, together with Stx. As members of the group of lambdoid phages, Stx phages share many genetic features with the archetypical temperate phage Lambda, but are heterogeneous in their DNA sequences due to frequent recombination events. In addition to Stx phages, the genome of pathogenic STEC bacteria may contain numerous prophages, which are either cryptic or functional. These prophages may carry foreign genes, some of them related to virulence, besides those necessary for the phage life cycle. Since the production of one or more Stx is considered the major pathogenicity factor of STEC, we aim to highlight the new insights on the contribution of Stx phages and other STEC phages to pathogenicity