Biodiversity conservation across scales: lessons from a science–policy dialogue

One of the core challenges of biodiversity conservation is to better understand the interconnectedness and interactions of scales in ecological and governance processes. These interrelationships constitute not only a complex analytical challenge but they also open up a channel for deliberative discussions and knowledge exchange between and among various societal actors which may themselves be operating at various scales, such as policy makers, land use planners, members of NGOs, and researchers. In this paper, we discuss and integrate the perspectives of various disciplines academics and stakeholders who participated in a workshop on scales of European biodiversity governance organised in Brussels in the autumn of 2010. The 23 participants represented various governmental agencies and NGOs from the European, national, and sub-national levels. The data from the focus group discussions of the workshop were analysed using qualitative content analysis. The core scale-related challenges of biodiversity policy identified by the participants were cross-level and cross-sector limitations as well as ecological, social and social-ecological complexities that potentially lead to a variety of scale-related mismatches. As ways to address these cha- llenges the participants highlighted innovations, and an aim to develop new interdisciplinary approaches to support the processes aiming to solve current scale challenges

Katsauksia maankäyttö- ja rakennuslain toimivuuteen

Ympäristöministeriö toteuttaa vuosien 2012 ja 2013 maankäyttö- ja rakennuslain kokonaisarvioinnin, jossa arvioidaan lain toimivuutta ja vaikuttavuutta sen voimaantulon jälkeen monin tavoin muuttuneessa toimintaympäristössä. Arvioinnin suuntaamisen tueksi ympäristöministeriö on pyytänyt tiedeyhteisöltä itsenäisistä artikkeleista koostuvan puheenvuoron. Julkaistavissa katsauksissa tarkastellaan kaavoituksen ja rakentamisen toimintaympäristössä maankäyttö- ja rakennuslain voimaantulon jälkeen tapahtuneita muutoksia ja näköpiirissä olevia yhteiskunnan kehityssuuntia suhteessa lain tavoitteisiin ja tuloksiin

Shared attention for action selection and action monitoring in goal-directed reaching

Dual-task studies have shown higher sensitivity for stimuli presented at the targets of upcoming actions. We examined whether attention is directed to action targets for the purpose of action selection, or if attention is directed to these locations because they are expected to provide feedback about movement outcomes. In our experiment, endpoint accuracy feedback was spatially separated from the action targets to determine whether attention would be allocated to (a) the action targets, (b) the expected source of feedback, or (c) to both locations. Participants reached towards a location indicated by an arrow while identifying a discrimination target that could appear in any one of eight possible locations. Discrimination target accuracy was used as a measure of attention allocation. Participants were unable to see their hand during reaching and were provided with a small monetary reward for each accurate movement. Discrimination target accuracy was best at action targets but was also enhanced at the spatially separated feedback locations. Separating feedback from the reaching targets did not diminish discrimination accuracy at the movement targets but did result in delayed movement initiation and reduced reaching accuracy, relative to when feedback was presented at the reaching target. The results suggest attention is required for both action planning and monitoring movement outcomes. Dividing attention between these functions negatively impacts action performance

Kidney disease in nail–patella syndrome

Nail–patella syndrome (NPS) is a pleiotropic autosomal-dominant disorder due to mutations in the gene LMX1B. It has traditionally been characterized by a tetrad of dermatologic and musculoskeletal abnormalities. However, one of the most serious manifestations of NPS is kidney disease, which may be present in up to 40% of affected individuals. Although LMX1B is a developmental LIM-homeodomain transcription factor, it is expressed in post-natal life in the glomerular podocyte, suggesting a regulatory role in that cell. Kidney disease in NPS seems to occur more often in some families with NPS, but it does not segregate with any particular mutation type or location. Two patterns of NPS nephropathy may be distinguished. Most affected individuals manifest only an accelerated age-related loss of filtration function in comparison with unaffected individuals. Development of symptomatic kidney failure is rare in this group, and proteinuria (present in approximately one-third) does not appear to be progressive. A small minority (5–10%) of individuals with NPS develop nephrotic-range proteinuria as early as childhood or young adulthood and progress to end-stage kidney failure over variable periods of time. It is proposed that this latter group reflects the effects of more global podocyte dysfunction, possibly due to the combination of a mutation in LMX1B along with an otherwise innocuous polymorphism or mutation involving any of several genes expressed in podocytes (e.g. NPHS2, CD2AP), the transription of which is regulated by LMX1B