Environmental Protection, Energy Policy and Poverty Reduction – Synergies of an Integrated Approach

This paper describes the mechanisms that link poverty reduction with climate and energy policy. First, there is a brief analysis of the relationship between ongoing climate change, energy use and poverty. This analysis is followed by an overview of different policy options that have the potential to fight poverty while simultaneously limiting global warming and environmental degradation. Mitigating climate change, transforming the energy systems in developing countries and financing adaptation to climate change are pointed out as central policy fields governments and developing agencies should focus on. Furthermore, one can argue that new technologies to increase energy efficiency and the dissemination of renewable energy systems have an especially strong impact on poverty. Access to clean and cost-efficient energy has a direct effect on the income generation potentials of the poor. Finally, this paper identifies appropriate financing mechanisms to implement the aforementioned strategies.

Training-induced cognitive and neural plasticity

Peer Reviewe

BLISTER-regulated vegetative growth is dependent on the protein kinase domain of ER stress modulator IRE1A in Arabidopsis thaliana

The unfolded protein response (UPR) is required for protein homeostasis in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) when plants are challenged by adverse environmental conditions. Inositol-requiring enzyme 1 (IRE1), the bifunctional protein kinase / ribonuclease, is an important UPR regulator in plants mediating cytoplasmic splicing of the mRNA encoding the transcription factor bZIP60. This activates the UPR signaling pathway and regulates canonical UPR genes. However, how the protein activity of IRE1 is controlled during plant growth and development is largely unknown. In the present study, we demonstrate that the nuclear and Golgi-localized protein BLISTER (BLI) negatively controls the activity of IRE1A/IRE1B under normal growth condition in Arabidopsis. Loss-of-function mutation of BLI results in chronic up-regulation of a set of both canonical UPR genes and non-canonical UPR downstream genes, leading to cell death and growth retardation. Genetic analysis indicates that BLI-regulated vegetative growth phenotype is dependent on IRE1A/IRE1B but not their canonical splicing target bZIP60. Genetic complementation with mutation analysis suggests that the D570/K572 residues in the ATP-binding pocket and N780 residue in the RNase domain of IRE1A are required for the activation of canonical UPR gene expression, in contrast, the D570/K572 residues and D590 residue in the protein kinase domain of IRE1A are important for the induction of non-canonical UPR downstream genes in the BLI mutant background, which correlates with the shoot growth phenotype. Hence, our results reveal the important role of IRE1A in plant growth and development, and BLI negatively controls IRE1A’s function under normal growth condition in plants

BLISTER Regulates Polycomb-Target Genes, Represses Stress-Regulated Genes and Promotes Stress Responses in Arabidopsis thaliana

Polycomb group (PcG) proteins are key epigenetic regulators of development. The highly conserved Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) represses thousands of target genes by trimethylating H3K27 (H3K27me3). Plant specific PcG components and functions are largely unknown, however, we previously identified the plant-specific protein BLISTER (BLI) as a PRC2 interactor. BLI regulates PcG target genes and promotes cold stress resistance. To further understand the function of BLI, we analyzed the transcriptional profile of bli-1 mutants. Approximately 40% of the up-regulated genes in bli are PcG target genes, however, bli-1 mutants did not show changes in H3K27me3 levels at all tested genes, indicating that BLI regulates PcG target genes downstream of or in parallel to PRC2. Interestingly, a significant number of BLI regulated H3K27me3 target genes is regulated by the stress hormone absciscic acid (ABA). We further reveal an overrepresentation of genes responding to abiotic stresses such as drought, high salinity, or heat stress among the up- regulated genes in bli mutants. Consistently, bli mutants showed reduced desiccation stress tolerance. We conclude that the PRC2 associated protein BLI is a key regulator of stress-responsive genes in Arabidopsis: it represses ABA-responsive PcG target genes, likely downstream of PRC2, and promotes resistance to several stresses such as cold and drought

Grün aus der Krise – Was können «grüne» Konjunkturpakete leisten?

Global Green Recovery, Economic Stimulus Package, Job Creation, Cliamte Change

Beiträge zur Optimierung polymerer Referenzmaterialien

In der analytischen Chemie gehören Referenzmaterialien zu einem unverzichtbaren Mittel bei einer Vielzahl unterschiedlicher Fragestellungen. Sie werden als Standards zur Quantifizierung, für die Methodenentwicklung und -validierung sowie im Rahmen der täglichen Qualitätskontrolle eingesetzt. Ein stetig wachsender Bereich ist die ortsaufgelöste, festkörperspektroskopische Analyse von Proben mit einer leichten organischen Matrix z.B. biologische Proben, mittels zerstörungsfreier bzw. quasi-zerstörungsfreier Methoden. Da die Matrix einen entscheidenden Ein-fluss auf das Analyseergebnis hat, müssen matrixangepasste Standards für die Quantifizierung verwendet werden, deren Verfügbarkeit jedoch begrenzt ist. Aufgrund des hohen Bedarfs, beschäftigt sich diese Arbeit mit verschiedenen Bereichen, die für eine erfolgreiche Präparation sowie Charakterisierung polymerer Referenzmaterialien notwendig sind. Voraussetzung bei der Entwicklung neuer Referenzmaterialien ist eine gründliche Charakterisierung verschiedener Parameter, wie z.B. der Analytgehalt und -spezies, oder die Schichtdicke, sowie der homogenen Verteilung des Füllstoffes in der gewählten Matrix. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde für die Optimierung der Schichtdickenbestimmung ein organischer Fluoreszenzfarbstoff eingesetzt, durch den eine UV-VIS-Methode zur Schichtdicken-bestimmung erprobt werden konnte. Des Weiteren wurden unterschiedliche nanopartikuläre Füllstoffe, TiO2, Al2O3, Fe2O3, sowie oberflächenmodifizierte Partikel in einem Gehaltsbereich von 1 Gew% - 10 Gew% in die Mat-rix eingebracht und als Schichtsystem appliziert. Die jeweilige Präparation wurde hierbei für den jeweiligen Analyten optimiert bzw. entwickelt. Die präparierten Schichten bzw. polymeren Mischungen wurden mittels diverser Analyseverfahren, ICP-OES, REM-EDX, LA-ICP-MS, µRFA und der Lichtmikroskopie hinsichtlich ihres Elementgehaltes, der realen Schichtdicke sowie der Elementverteilung innerhalb der Schicht analysiert. Durch Auswertung der ortsaufgelösten Messungen war es möglich unterschiedliche Präparationsverfahren, verschiedene Additive, sowie Oberflächenmodifikationen zu analysieren, zu bewerten und zu optimieren

Geodata Infrastructure for the Management of Railway Assets-Related Research Data

A system containing updated information on railway assets, including their condition, contributes significantly to the maintenance of railway networks and to ensure continuous service. The Institute of Transportation Systems (DLR-TS) of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) carries out research in the area of condition monitoring using in-service trains. Massive amounts of measurement data are collected from various sensors mounted railway vehicles. There is an ever-growing amount of data, as several terabytes of measurement data are collected every year as a part of multiple projects. Furthermore, static and semi-static data on railway networks such as the topology of the network, the infrastructure elements in the network and their conditions are also gathered. Here arises a need for sustainable management of the raw datasets and the generated results to make them Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR) over time to researchers within the DLR, and other stakeholders such as project partners, funding organizations and the public. This poster addresses the topic of management of railway infrastructure and measurement data through the development of a system called “Transportation Infrastructure Data Platform” (TRIDAP) that enables the storage, analysis and sharing of data in a FAIR-compatible way. The platform is setup using open-source software such as PostgreSQL, Apache Kafka, Apache Spark, GeoServer, GeoNetwork and Prometheus to name a few. DLR-TS is actively developing this platform. Datasets from DLR-TS and few other DLR institutes are planned to be stored in the platform during the course of the DLR-funded cross-domain project “Digitaler Atlas 2.0”

Sozialplanung in Kreisen: Evaluation der Einführung einer integrierten Sozialplanung in zwei Landkreisen in Nordrhein-Westfalen

Ein kreisweites strategisches Vorgehen zur Implementierung einer integrierten Sozialplanung bietet zahlreiche Vorteile - sowohl für den Landkreis als auch für die kreisangehörigen Kommunen. Als Steuerungsinstrument ermöglicht die integrierte Sozialplanung die tiefenscharfe Analyse der sozialen Lage der Bevölkerung, auf deren Grundlage die Bedarfe festgestellt und soziale Dienstleistungen passgenau, effizient und effektiv geplant und umgesetzt werden können. Im Rahmen dieser Studie wurden zwei Kreise bei der Einführung einer integrierten Sozialplanung wissenschaftlich begleitet. An den Erhebungen (Experteninterviews, Gruppendiskussionen, Dokumentenanalysen) waren über 40 Expert_innen beteiligt, deren jeweilige Perspektive auf den örtlichen Sozialplanungsprozess analysiert wurde. Daraus entsteht ein umfassendes Bild von den einzelnen Aspekten einer kreisweiten Sozialplanung. In der Studie werden die damit verbundenen Herausforderungen und die entwickelten Lösungsansätze dokumentiert.A district-wide strategic approach of integrated social planning offers numerous advantages - both for the district as well as for the municipalities in the district. As a management tool, integrated social planning enables a detailed analysis of the social situation of the population. This forms the basis of which the needs can be determined, and the necessary social offers and services can be planned and implemented precisely, efficiently and effectively. In this study, two districts were scientifically monitored in the introduction of integrated social planning. The surveys (expert interviews, group discussions, document analyses) involved over 40 experts whose respective perspectives on the local social planning process were analysed. This provides a comprehensive picture of the individual aspects of social planning in districts as well as the associated challenges and solutions