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Responding to the UN programme &ldquo, The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity&rdquo, (TEEB), TEEB-DE (2012&ndash, 2018) was a science&ndash, policy interface (SPI) set up in Germany with the objective of mobilising scientific expertise for a better consideration of biodiversity and ecosystem services in political and corporate decision-making. The aim of this paper is to contribute to an assessment of TEEB-DE by analysing its objectives, structure, processes and outputs. The analysis is guided by a theoretical framework that takes credibility, relevance and legitimacy (CRELE) as normative criteria for examining SPIs. Methodologically, the paper relies on a fine-grained analysis of published documents and interviews with key figures of TEEB-DE. The results allow for a preliminary assessment of TEEB-DE in regard to CRELE and illuminate how its conceptual foundation&mdash, namely the ecosystem services concept&mdash, was discussed in the public realm. We also consider a number of trade-offs which the coordinators of TEEB-DE had to negotiate. In conclusion, we identify some proposals for designing future SPIs in the domain of biodiversity and nature conservation in Germany such as paying greater attention to policy windows, broadening the thematic scope beyond economics and providing better opportunities for debate and contestation.

The Metabotropic glutamate receptor 2 (mGluR2) belongs to the family of G-protein coupled receptors, a specific class of transmembrane proteins involved in cellular signaling. The functionality of such transmembrane proteins has been identified to largely depend on their microenvironment, namely the lipid bilayer surrounding them. However, the regulation of the receptors by their lipid microenvironment remains poorly understood. In particular, it remains unclear how specific protein-lipid interactions may modulate the function of mGluR2. In the last years, general motifs for non-covalent cholesterol and sphingolipid interaction within helical domains of transmembrane proteins have been described. In these motifs, both tryptophan and tyrosine residues have been found to play a decisive role. For that reason, an alanine mutagenesis screening, targeting tryptophan and tyrosine residues at the transmembrane surface, was carried out in the search of specific sphingolipid or cholesterol interaction sites for mGluR2. For the different Y→A and W→A variants, surface biotinylation and co-immunoprecipitation showed that neither trafficking nor dimerization were disturbed by substitution of these aromatic residues. In contrast, cellular photo-crosslinking assays demonstrated that cholesterol binding was compromised if one tyrosine residue located at the helix five or another at the helix six was replaced. Thus, these experiments suggested these two helices to contain specific cholesterol binding sites. To get a better molecular insight into these specific protein-lipid interactions, lipid binding to the transmembrane domain of mGluR2 was investigated in molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. The molecular dynamics simulations in GROMACS were performed in collaboration with the Max Planck tandem group of Dr. Camilo Aponte-Santamaría. All-atom and coarse-grained MD simulations of the mGluR2 transmembrane domain confirmed the experimental observation, by revealing a highly-localized density of cholesterol near these residues in helices five and six, which smeared out when they were changed to alanine in silico. The simulations also revealed flexibility of the protein structure at the exoplasmic end of helix six which changed upon introduction of point mutations. Overall, the work combining functional assays and MD simulations demonstrated the existence of specific cholesterol binding sites in mGluR2. It will be highly interesting to investigate the functional implications of this newly-found specific protein–cholesterol interaction on the activity and conformation of the receptor.

Nach Meinung von Hans Fehr, Lehrstuhl für Finanzwissenschaft, Universität Würzburg, belastet der aktuelle Gesetzentwurf zur Reform der Rentenversicherung pauschal die Beitragszahler, konterkariert die eingeleitete Anhebung des Rentenzugangsalters und hilft nur wenig gegen die künftig steigende Altersarmut Martin Werding, Universität Bochum, sieht in den Reformpläne der Großen Koalition eine Vernachlässigung der Verbesserung der längerfristigen Perspektiven für die Rentenfinanzierung. Für Axel Börsch-Supan, Max-Planck-Institut für Sozialrecht und Sozialpolitik, München, sind die Beschlüsse der neuen Großen Koalition »kurzsichtig und einseitig: Die Wohltaten kommen der älteren Generation zugute, während es die zukünftigen Beitragszahler finanzieren müssen, die ohnehin durch den demographischen Wandel gebeutelt werden.« Alfred Boss, Institut für Weltwirtschaft Kiel, bezeichnet die Rentenreform als einen Schritt in die falsche Richtung, die Verlieren seien die nicht begünstigten Rentner und die Beitragszahler. Jörg Asmussen, Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales, stellt die Überlegungen der Regierungskoalition vor. Er unterstreicht, dass an einer demographiefesten Rentenversicherung festgehalten wird, aber mit dem Rentenpaket gerechtere Ansprüche geschaffen werden. Nach Ansicht von Enzo Weber, IAB, Nürnberg, und Universität Regensburg, passen nicht alle Teile des Rentenpakets in eine wirksame Gesamtstrategie. In der Summe der finanziellen Belastungen werden Chancen auf eine Stärkung von Erwerbsanreizen durch eine Beitragssenkung vertan. Markus Kurth, MdB, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, sieht durch die Rentenpläne Spielräume für die sozialpolitisch wichtigen Verbesserungen auf Jahre zugestellt.

Rezensierte Werke: Raum für Zukunft : zur Innovationsfähigkeit von Stadtentwicklungs- und Verkehrspolitik ; Festschrift für Karl Ganser / Heiner Monheim ... (Hg.). - 1. Aufl. - Essen : Klartext-Verl., 1997. - 375 S. : Ill., Kt. ISBN 3-88474-628-6