Die Gemeinsame Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik nach Amsterdam : Praxis und Perspektiven

Die Gemeinsame Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik der Europäischen Union (GASP) hat mit dem Amsterdamer Vertrag einen neuen Stellenwert erhalten, der an vier Fragen erläutert werden soll: 1. Was ist eigentlich die außenpolitische Leistung der Europäischen Union? 2. Wird Europa nach dem Vertrag von Maastricht und insbesondere nach den Ergänzungen von Amsterdam bei der nächsten außenpolitischen Krise eine bessere Figur machen als bisher? 3. Ist eigentlich der Beweis erbracht, daß die Bundesrepublik Deutschland die GASP braucht? 4. Gibt es zwischen den Mitgliedstaaten der EU noch so etwas wie Außenpolitik

Investigation of Bacteriophage Genomes

Bacteriophage (phage) was first found in the 1900s by Frederick Twort on accident, with the average size of a phage ranging from 3.4kb to almost 500kb (Keen 2015). Phage have become the most abundant organisms on earth and have been used for over 90 years in the treatment of bacterial infections in humans. However, there are many types of phages that are still undiscovered and researched. Discovering and annotating new phages will expand the scientific knowledge of bacteriophage and contribute to new infection treatments. In this project, the unique phage Corazon was investigated. This phage was discovered in Easton, PA at Lafayette College. Corazon is in the S cluster and belongs to the Siphoviridae family, which means it has a non-contractile tail. For this project, Corazon was annotated with an annotation tool called DNA Master to call individual genes and decide their start positions. This decision was supported using programs including Phamerator, Starterator, and GeneMarkS maps. Once a start position was found, the gene was analyzed to determine its function. Programs like NCBI and HHPred were used to compare the potential functions of Corazon genes with other genomes in the database. Overall, our group received 18 auto annotated genes, and two more were discovered in the large gaps of over 30bp, totaling 20 genes that were identified for a start site, function and coding potential. Specifically, we annotated genes 57.5 through 75 (34135-43828 bp). Due to the location of our genes, most of the gene functions were unable to be determined. This genome is a member of the S cluster, which has fewer genomes with known functions, making it difficult to call functions for our genes. The functions we had were HNH endonuclease, exonuclease, hydrolase, DNA binding domain protein and WhiB family transcription factor . Our contributions to the data of this genome will be added to a large database to assist more research regarding bacteriophage. These findings will contribute to understanding the different functions of genes in S cluster genomes. By expanding scientific knowledge on different functions of genes we can potentially contribute new phage therapies in the future. Source: Keen, E. C. (2015, January). Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC441846

Effects of salinity on establishment of \u3ci\u3ePopulus fremontii\u3c/i\u3e (cottonwood) and \u3ci\u3eTamarix ramosissima\u3c/i\u3e (saltcedar) in southwestern United States

The exotic shrub Tamarix ramosissima (saltcedar) has replaced the native Populus fremontii (cottonwood) along many streams in southwestern United States. We used a controlled outdoor experiment to examine the influence of river salinity on germination and first year survival of P. fremontii var. wislizenii (Rio Grande cottonwood) and T. ramosissima on freshly deposited alluvial bars. We grew both species from seed in planters of sand subjected to a declining water table and solutions containing 0, 1, 3, and 5 times the concentrations of major ions in the Rio Grande at San Marcia, NM (1.2, 10.0, 25.7 and 37.4 meq 1-1; 0.11, 0.97, 2.37, and 3.45 dS m-1). Germination of P. fremontii declined by 35% with increasing salinity (P = .008). Germination of T. ramosissima was not affected. There were no significant effects of salinity on morality or above- and belowground growth of either species. In laboratory tests the same salinities had no effect on P. fremontii germination. P. fremontii germination is more sensitive to salinity outdoors than in covered petri dishes, probably because water scarcity resulting from eavaportion intensifies the low soil water potential associated with high salinity. River salinity appears to play only a minor role in determining relative numbers of P. fremontii and T. ramosissima seedlings on freshly deposited sandbars. However, over many years salt becomes concentrated on floodplains as a result of evaporation and salt extrusion from saltcedar leaves. T. ramosissima is known to be more tolerant of the resulting extreme salinities than P. fremontii. Therefore, increases in river salinities could indirectly contribute to decline of P. fremontii forests by exacerbating salt accumulation on floodplains

Die Gemeinsame Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik nach Amsterdam = The Common Foreign and Security Policy after Amsterdam. ZEI Discussion Papers: 1998, C 14

[From the Introduction]. Die Gemeinsame Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik der Europäischen Union (GASP) hat mit dem Amsterdamer Vertrag einen neuen Stellenwert erhalten, der an vier Fragen erläutert werden soll: 1. Frage: Was ist eigentlich die außenpolitische Leistung der Europäischen Union? 2. Frage: Wird Europa nach dem Vertrag von Maastricht und insbesondere nach den Ergänzungen von Amsterdam bei der nächsten außenpolitischen Krise eine bessere Figur machen als bisher? 3. Frage: Ist eigentlich der Beweis erbracht, daß die Bundesrepublik Deutschland die GASP braucht? 4. Frage: Gibt es zwischen den Mitgliedstaaten der EU noch so etwas wie Außenpolitik