Satellizing Galileo? Non-state Authority and Interoperability Standards in the European Global Navigation Satellite System

This paper explores the extent and limits of non-state authority in international affairs. While a number of studies have emphasised the role of state support and the ability of strategically situated actors to capture regulatory processes, they often fail to unpack the conditions under which this takes place. In order to probe the assumption that structural market power, backed by political support, equates regulatory capture, the article examines the interplay of political and economic considerations in the negotiations to establish worldwide interoperability standards needed for the development of Galileo as a genuinely European global navigation satellite system under civil control. It argues that industries supported and identified as strategic by public actors are more likely to capture standardisation processes than those with the largest market share expected to be created by the standards. This suggests that the influence of industries in space, air and maritime traffic control closely related to the militaro-industrial complex remains disproportionate in comparison to the prospective market of location-based services expected to vastly transform business practices, labour relations and many aspects of our daily life.

Shift in cytotype frequency and niche space in the invasive plant Centaurea maculosa.

Polyploidy is often assumed to increase the spread and thus the success of alien plant species, but few empirical studies exist. We tested this hypothesis with Centaurea maculosa Lam., a species native to Europe and introduced into North America approximately 120 years ago where it became highly invasive. We analyzed the ploidy level of more than 2000 plants from 93 native and 48 invasive C. maculosa populations and found a pronounced shift in the relative frequency of diploid and tetraploid cytotypes. In Europe diploid populations occur in higher frequencies than tetraploids and only four populations had both cytotypes, while in North America diploid plants were found in only one mixed population and thus tetraploids clearly dominated. Our results showed a pronounced shift in the climatic niche between tetraploid populations in the native and introduced range toward drier climate in North America and a similar albeit smaller shift between diploids and tetraploids in the native range. The field data indicate that diploids have a predominately monocarpic life cycle, while tetraploids are often polycarpic. Additionally, the polycarpic life-form seems to be more prevalent among tetraploids in the introduced range than among tetraploids in the native range. Our study suggests that both ploidy types of C. maculosa were introduced into North America, but tetraploids became the dominant cytotype with invasion. We suggest that the invasive success of C. maculosa is partly due to preadaptation of the tetraploid cytotype in Europe to drier climate and possibly further adaptation to these conditions in the introduced range. The potential for earlier and longer seed production associated with the polycarpic life cycle constitutes an additional factor that may have led to the dominance of tetraploids over diploids in the introduced range.

Plant traits co-vary with altitude in grasslands and forests in the European Alps

Biological traits that are advantageous under specific ecological conditions should be present in a large proportion of the species within an ecosystem, where those specific conditions prevail. As climatic conditions change, the frequency of certain traits in plant communities is expected to change with increasing altitude. We examined patterns of change for 13 traits in 120 exhaustive inventories of plants along five altitudinal transects (520-3100 m a.s.l.) in grasslands and in forests in western Switzerland. The traits selected for study represented the occupation of space, photosynthesis, reproduction and dispersal. For each plot, the mean trait values or the proportions of the trait states were weighted by species cover and examined in relation to the first axis of a PCA based on local climatic conditions. With increasing altitude in grasslands, we observed a decrease in anemophily and an increase in entomophily complemented by possible selfing; a decrease in diaspores with appendages adapted to ectozoochory, linked to a decrease in achenes and an increase in capsules. In lowlands, pollination and dispersal are ensured by wind and animals. However, with increasing altitude, insects are mostly responsible for pollination, and wind becomes the main natural dispersal vector. Some traits showed a particularly marked change in the alpine belt (e.g., the increase of capsules and the decrease of achenes), confirming that this belt concentrates particularly stressful conditions to plant growth and reproduction (e.g. cold, short growing season) that constrain plants to a limited number of strategies. One adaptation to this stress is to limit investment in dispersal by producing capsules with numerous, tiny seeds that have appendages limited to narrow wings. Forests displayed many of the trends observed in grasslands but with a reduced variability that is likely due to a shorter altitudinal gradient.

Regulatory assessment of in vitro skin corrosion and irritation data within the European framework: Workshop recommendations

Validated in vitro methods for skin corrosion and irritation were adopted by the OECD and by the European Union during the last decade. In the EU, Switzerland and countries adopting the EU legislation, these assays may allow the full replacement of animal testing for identifying and classifying compounds as skin corrosives, skin irritants, and non irritants. In order to develop harmonised recommendations on the use of in vitro data for regulatory assessment purposes within the European framework, a workshop was organized by the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health together with ECVAM and the BfR. It comprised stakeholders from various European countries involved in the process from in vitro testing to the regulatory assessment of in vitro data. Discussions addressed the following questions: (1) the information requirements considered useful for regulatory assessment; (2) the applicability of in vitro skin corrosion data to assign the corrosive subcategories as implemented by the EU Classification, Labelling and Packaging Regulation; (3) the applicability of testing strategies for determining skin corrosion and irritation hazards; and (4) the applicability of the adopted in vitro assays to test mixtures, preparations and dilutions. Overall, a number of agreements and recommendations were achieved in order to clarify and facilitate the assessment and use of in vitro data from regulatory accepted methods, and ultimately help regulators and scientists facing with the new in vitro approaches to evaluate skin irritation and corrosion hazards and risks without animal data.

The hotel industry and its importance in the technical and economic development of a region : the Lake Geneva case (1852-1914)

The historiography dedicated to tourism has emphasised how some socio-economic evolutions such as urbanisation, mechanisation of transport or the advent of leisure time in society have supported pleasure trips and therefore the development of the hotel industry. On the contrary, the research has too often neglected or at least minimised the impact of the hotel sector on a region's development. This contribution seeks to fill this gap by analysing the Geneva Lake region, one of the most important birthplaces of the European tourism. In this space not much touched by the first industrial revolution, the hotel business has in fact played the role of an economic motor, stimulating investment and employment. This dynamism provoked a domino effect on several other sectors of the economy (industry, bulding sector, banking). To please their customers, the hoteliers have not only given impulses on housing modernisation, but also to the revitalisation of transport, energy and communication networks. The necessity to remain on the state-of-the-art of technical issues, with the concern of competitiveness, has called forth an acceleration of the technology transfer and stimulated the constitution of technical know-how.

Geographic and temporal variation in the consumption of bats by European barn owls

Capsule We report a review of the occurrence of bats in the Barn Owl diet Tyto alba in Europe. Based on 802 studies reporting 4.02 million prey items identified in pellets, 4949 were bats (0.12%). We found that bat predation decreased during the last 150 years, is more frequent on islands than mainland, and is higher in eastern than western Europe and in southern than northern Europe. Although Barn Owls usually capture bats opportunistically, they can sometimes specialize on them.

Blood pressure and LDL-cholesterol targets for prevention of recurrent strokes and cognitive decline in the hypertensive patient: design of the European Society of Hypertension-Chinese Hypertension League Stroke in Hypertension Optimal Treatment randomized trial.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The SBP values to be achieved by antihypertensive therapy in order to maximize reduction of cardiovascular outcomes are unknown; neither is it clear whether in patients with a previous cardiovascular event, the optimal values are lower than in the low-to-moderate risk hypertensive patients, or a more cautious blood pressure (BP) reduction should be obtained. Because of the uncertainty whether 'the lower the better' or the 'J-curve' hypothesis is correct, the European Society of Hypertension and the Chinese Hypertension League have promoted a randomized trial comparing antihypertensive treatment strategies aiming at three different SBP targets in hypertensive patients with a recent stroke or transient ischaemic attack. As the optimal level of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) level is also unknown in these patients, LDL-C-lowering has been included in the design. PROTOCOL DESIGN: The European Society of Hypertension-Chinese Hypertension League Stroke in Hypertension Optimal Treatment trial is a prospective multinational, randomized trial with a 3 × 2 factorial design comparing: three different SBP targets (1, <145-135; 2, <135-125; 3, <125 mmHg); two different LDL-C targets (target A, 2.8-1.8; target B, <1.8 mmol/l). The trial is to be conducted on 7500 patients aged at least 65 years (2500 in Europe, 5000 in China) with hypertension and a stroke or transient ischaemic attack 1-6 months before randomization. Antihypertensive and statin treatments will be initiated or modified using suitable registered agents chosen by the investigators, in order to maintain patients within the randomized SBP and LDL-C windows. All patients will be followed up every 3 months for BP and every 6 months for LDL-C. Ambulatory BP will be measured yearly. OUTCOMES: Primary outcome is time to stroke (fatal and non-fatal). Important secondary outcomes are: time to first major cardiovascular event; cognitive decline (Montreal Cognitive Assessment) and dementia. All major outcomes will be adjudicated by committees blind to randomized allocation. A Data and Safety Monitoring Board has open access to data and can recommend trial interruption for safety. SAMPLE SIZE CALCULATION: It has been calculated that 925 patients would reach the primary outcome after a mean 4-year follow-up, and this should provide at least 80% power to detect a 25% stroke difference between SBP targets and a 20% difference between LDL-C targets.

Review: Contact sport-related chronic traumatic encephalopathy in the elderly: clinical expression and structural substrates.

A. Costanza, K. Weber, S. Gandy, C. Bouras, P. R. Hof, P. Giannakopoulos and A. Canuto (2011) Neuropathology and Applied Neurobiology37, 570-584 Contact sport-related chronic traumatic encephalopathy in the elderly: clinical expression and structural substrates Professional boxers and other contact sport athletes are exposed to repetitive brain trauma that may affect motor functions, cognitive performance, emotional regulation and social awareness. The term of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) was recently introduced to regroup a wide spectrum of symptoms such as cerebellar, pyramidal and extrapyramidal syndromes, impairments in orientation, memory, language, attention, information processing and frontal executive functions, as well as personality changes and behavioural and psychiatric symptoms. Magnetic resonance imaging usually reveals hippocampal and vermis atrophy, a cavum septum pellucidum, signs of diffuse axonal injury, pituitary gland atrophy, dilated perivascular spaces and periventricular white matter disease. Given the partial overlapping of the clinical expression, epidemiology and pathogenesis of CTE and Alzheimer's disease (AD), as well as the close association between traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) and neurofibrillary tangle formation, a mixed pathology promoted by pathogenetic cascades resulting in either CTE or AD has been postulated. Molecular studies suggested that TBIs increase the neurotoxicity of the TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) that is a key pathological marker of ubiquitin-positive forms of frontotemporal dementia (FTLD-TDP) associated or not with motor neurone disease/amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Similar patterns of immunoreactivity for TDP-43 in CTE, FTLD-TDP and ALS as well as epidemiological correlations support the presence of common pathogenetic mechanisms. The present review provides a critical update of the evolution of the concept of CTE with reference to its neuropathological definition together with an in-depth discussion of the differential diagnosis between this entity, AD and frontotemporal dementia.

Within- and among-population impact of genetic erosion on adult fitness-related traits in the European tree frog Hyla arborea.

Assessing in wild populations how fitness is impacted by inbreeding and genetic drift is a major goal for conservation biology. An approach to measure the detrimental effects of inbreeding on fitness is to estimate correlations between molecular variation and phenotypic performances within and among populations. Our study investigated the effect of individual multilocus heterozygosity on body size, body condition and reproductive investment of males (that is, chorus attendance) and females (that is, clutch mass and egg size) in both small fragmented and large non-fragmented populations of European tree frog (Hyla arborea). Because adult size and/or condition and reproductive investment are usually related, genetic erosion may have detrimental effects directly on reproductive investment, and also on individual body size and condition that in turn may affect reproductive investment. We confirmed that the reproductive investment was highly size-dependent for both sexes. Larger females invested more in offspring production, and larger males attended the chorus in the pond more often. Our results did not provide evidence for a decline in body size, condition and reproductive effort with decreased multilocus heterozygosity both within and among populations. We showed that the lack of heterozygosity-fitness correlations within populations probably resulted from low inbreeding levels (inferior to ca. 20% full-sib mating rate), even in the small fragmented populations. The detrimental effects of fixation load were either low in adults or hidden by environmental variation among populations. These findings will be useful to design specific management actions to improve population persistence.

Timeframe of speciation inferred from secondary contact zones in the European tree frog radiation (Hyla arborea group).

BACKGROUND: Hybridization between incipient species is expected to become progressively limited as their genetic divergence increases and reproductive isolation proceeds. Amphibian radiations and their secondary contact zones are useful models to infer the timeframes of speciation, but empirical data from natural systems remains extremely scarce. Here we follow this approach in the European radiation of tree frogs (Hyla arborea group). We investigated a natural hybrid zone between two lineages (Hyla arborea and Hyla orientalis) of Mio-Pliocene divergence (~5 My) for comparison with other hybrid systems from this group. RESULTS: We found concordant geographic distributions of nuclear and mitochondrial gene pools, and replicated narrow transitions (~30 km) across two independent transects, indicating an advanced state of reproductive isolation and potential local barriers to dispersal. This result parallels the situation between H. arborea and H. intermedia, which share the same amount of divergence with H. orientalis. In contrast, younger lineages show much stronger admixture at secondary contacts. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings corroborate the negative relationship between hybridizability and divergence time in European tree frogs, where 5 My are necessary to achieve almost complete reproductive isolation. Speciation seems to progress homogeneously in this radiation, and might thus be driven by gradual genome-wide changes rather than single speciation genes. However, the timescale differs greatly from that of other well-studied amphibians. General assumptions on the time necessary for speciation based on evidence from unrelated taxa may thus be unreliable. In contrast, comparative hybrid zone analyses within single radiations such as our case study are useful to appreciate the advance of speciation in space and time.

Divergent and convergent margins in the north-western Alps - Confrontation to actualistic models

Divergent and convergent margins actualistic models are reviewed and applied to the history of the western Alps. Tethyan rifting history and geometry are analyzed: the northern European margin is considered as an upper plate whereas the southern Apulian margin is a lower plate; the Breche basin is regarded as the former break-away trough; the internal Brianconnais domain represents the northern rift shoulder whilst the more external domains are regarded as the infill of a complex rim basin locally affected by important extension (Valaisan and Vocontain trough). The Schistes lustres and ophiolites of the Tsate nappe are compared to an accretionary prism: the imbrication of this nappe elements is regarded as a direct consequence of the accretionary phenomena already active in early Cretaceous; the Gets/Simme complex could orginate from a more internal part of the accretionary prism. Some eclogitic basements represent the former Apulian margin substratum (Sesia) others (Mont-Rose) are interpreted as the former edge of the European margin. The history of the closing Tethyan domain is analyzed and the remaining problems concerning the cinematics, the presence/absence of a volcanic arc and the eoalpine metamorphism are discussed.

Multiple paternity and its consequences in the white campion " Silene latifolia "

Summary Several studies have demonstrated that the number of pollen donors siring seeds of individual fruits is frequently greater than one and, consequently, that plants have multiple mates. Multiple paternity can have important consequences at the population level. It influences the genetic variability of a population, the reproductive success of males and the fitness of females and future generations. It also influences male-male interactions for fertilization and it is fundamental in providing opportunity of female choice. I investigated the occurrence and the importance of multiple paternity within fruits in natural populations of the dioecious Silene latifolia using microsatellite DNA markers, especially developed for this study. I found that multiple paternity occurs in all populations investigated in the European range of the species, varying from one to nine sires per fruit with a mean of three, suggesting that multiple paternity is highly prevalent in natural populations. In the presence of multiple paternity I investigated if there was a female genotype influence on siring success of the males. I used the same pollen mixture from two males and applied it to three replicate females of different relatedness (two full sisters and one unrelated). I found female genotype influence in one of the two populations investigated, which might reflect different population history. Since these results suggested some degree of female choice, we investigated whether the occurrence of multiple paternity and post-pollination selection could provide opportunity for inbreeding avoidance. First, I measured inbreeding depression at different life-cycle stages for offspring obtained by single-donor crosses with brothers or unrelated males replicated on distinct flowers on the same female plant. To address inbreeding avoidance, I determined paternity in crosses using mixed pollen loads of the two males. I found significant inbreeding depression in the studied population, even under benign experimental conditions, and although the unrelated male did not sire significantly more offspring, there was an effect of genetic dissimilarity on paternity. This suggests that paternity is affected by relatedness among mates, but maybe additionally affected by other factors such as pollen competitive ability or male-female interactions. Using inbred and outbred crosses, I further investigated sex ratio bias inheritance in this species, and found that sex ratio bias of the parental generation was significantly correlated to pollen germination success of the F2 generation, which suggests that sex ratio bias in this species results from the specific X/Y combination and not only on Y performance. An effect of X and Y is consistent with sex chromosome meiotic drive. In conclusion, I found multiple paternity to be widespread in the study species and that females of similar genotype produce similar paternity shares. I found that inbreeding depression is substantial, therefore receiving pollen from several donors might lead to fewer inbred offspring, I also found an effect of genetic dissimilarity on paternity shares, which indicates that there is some ability to discriminate against related pollen, although this seems not to be the only determinant of paternity outcome. Finally I found sex ratio bias to be dependent on both X and Y chromosomes as predicted by sex chromosome meiotic drive. Résumé Plusieurs études ont démontré qu'il n'était pas rare que les graines contenues dans un même fruit soient issues de la fécondation par plusieurs pollens provenant de mâles différents, ce qui sous-entend que les plantes peuvent avoir plusieurs partenaires sexuels. La paternité multiple peut avoir d'importantes conséquences au niveau populationnel dans la mesure où elle peut influencer le degré de variabilité génétique de la population, le succès reproducteur des mâles, la fitness des femelles et des futures générations. La paternité multiple peut également avoir un impact sur les interactions mâle-mâle lors de la fertilisation et peut être considérée comme fondamentale vis-à-vis de la femelle, qui y trouve alors une opportunité de choisir son ou ses partenaires. Dans le cadre de ce travail de thèse j'ai cherché à déterminer si la paternité multiple était un phénomène observable et important dans les populations naturelles de l'espèce dioïque, Silene latifolia. Pour ce faire, j'ai utilisé des marqueurs microsatellites, spécialement développés pour cette étude. J'ai observé des phénomènes de paternité multiple dans toutes les populations de l'étude, réparties dans l'aire de distribution européenne de l'espèce. Le nombre de pères par fruit varie de un à neuf, avec un nombre moyen de trois, ce qui signifie que la paternité multiple est très répandue dans les populations naturelles. En raison de ces résultats, je me suis demandée si le génotype de la femelle influence le succès de paternité des mâles. J'ai alors réalisé des pollinisations manuelles sur la base d'un mélange de pollens issus de deux mâles, que j'ai appliqué sur trois femelles (réplicats) présentant différents degrés d'apparentement (deux soeurs. et une femelle étrangère). Il ressort de cette expérience que le génotype de la femelle peut influencer la paternité dans l'une des deux populations étudiées, ce qui pourrait refléter des différences en terme d'histoire des populations. Dans la mesure où ces résultats suggèrent un certain degré de choix chez la femelle, j'ai cherché à savoir si la paternité multiple et la sélection post-pollinisation pouvaient être des moyens d'éviter les croisements consanguins. Dans un premier temps, j'ai évalué la dépression de consanguinité à différentes étapes du cycle de vie chez des descendants issus de croisements à un seul donneur, celui-ci étant alternativement un frère ou un étranger, répliqués sur plusieurs fleurs d'une même plante femelle. Afin d'estimer l'évitement de croisements consanguins, j'ai effectué des croisements dont le pollen était un mélange des deux mâles (frère et étranger), puis j'ai déterminé la paternité dans les fruits obtenus. J'ai pu mettre en évidence un effet de dépression de consanguinité- significatif dans les populations étudiées, même dans des conditions expérimentales moins rudes qu'à l'extérieur. Bien que le mâle étranger n'ait pas engendré un nombre significativement plus important de graines, il y avait un effet de dissimilarité génétique sur la paternité. Ceci suggère que la paternité est affectée par le degré d'apparentement entre les partenaires, mais qu'elle peut aussi être affectée par d'autres facteurs tels que la compétitivité du pollen ou encore par les interactions mâles-femelles. L'utilisation de croisements consanguins et hybrides m'a également permis d'étudier l'héritabilité du biais de sex ratio chez cette espèce. Il s'est avéré que le biais de sex ratio de la génération parentale était significativement corrélé au succès de germination du pollen de la génération F2, ce qui signifie que, chez cette espèce, le biais de sex ratio résulte d'une combinaison spécifique de X/Y et non uniquement de la performance de Y. Un effet de X et Y est compatible avec l'hypothèse de distorsion de ségrégation méiotique des chromosomes sexuels. En conclusion, il ressort de mes résultats que la paternité multiple est un phénomène largement répandu chez S. latifolia et la paternité accomplie par un mâle est plus similaire entre soeurs qu'avec une femelle étrangère J'ai également mis en évidence que la dépression de consanguinité a un impact considérable; aussi, recevoir du pollen de plusieurs donneurs différents pourrait permettre à la femelle de produire moins de descendants consanguins. J'ai aussi trouvé un effet de la dissimilarité génétique sur le partage de paternité, ce qui indique que la discrimination contre le pollen d'apparentés est possible, bien que cela ne semble pas être le seul facteur déterminant dans le résultat de la paternité. Enfin, j'ai trouvé que le biais de sex ratio est dépendant des deux chromosomes X et Y, conformément à la théorie de distorsion de ségrégation méiotique des chromosomes sexuels.