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In Milan normotensive (MNS) rats glomerulosclerosis and interstitial fibrosis develop spontaneously in the absence of hypertension. Renal changes were sequentially assessed in these rats between 2 and 10 months of age. At 10 months, rats were characterized by heavy proteinuria, increased serum creatinine, focal or global glomerulosclerosis in 51 +/- 12% of the glomeruli as well as tubulointerstitial injury involving > 25% of the section area. Cell injury in podocytes (evidenced as increased expression of desmin and by electron microscopy) and interstitial fibroblasts (increased expression of alpha-smooth muscle actin) and mild glomerular hypertrophy were witnessed as early as three to four months of age and preceded glomerulosclerosis and interstitial fibrosis. Only minor evidence of mesangial cell activation (as assessed by glomerular (de novo alpha-smooth muscle actin or type I collagen expression or increased cell proliferation) was noted throughout the observation period. Later stages of the disease were characterized by glomerular and/or tubulointerstitial macrophage influx and osteopontin expression (a chemoattractant), mild accumulation of lymphocytes, platelets, fibrinogen, as well as by a progressive accumulation of various matrix proteins. Progressive renal disease in MNS rats is thus noteworthy for the relative lack of mesangial cell activation. Rather, early podocyte damage, induced by yet unknown mechanisms, may underlie the development of glomerulosclerosis and subsequent interstitial fibrosis.

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Despite the substantial and likely increasing contribution of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from international shipping and the related adverse impacts on global climate change, GHG emissions from international shipping are yet neither regulated by the Kyoto Protocol, nor through any other legally binding, internationally accepted regulation. This paper is looking into the governance architecture that is currently in place to regulate GHG emissions from international shipping with a view to analyze whether the institutional degree of fragmentation within this architecture is contributing to the current situation where no legally binding, internationally accepted regulation has been set up yet. Following the hypothesis that the degree and the characteristics of governance fragmentation have a crucial impact on the effectiveness and performance of a governance system, this paper focuses on the current architecture of climate change governance in international shipping and the institutional interplay between its actors. Therefore, the analytical framework builds on approaches from international environmental governance, regime theory, institutional interplay, and fragmentation in international governance architectures.

An increasingly complex governance architecture has become a major characteristic of current global environmental governance, often resulting in different degrees of complexity and fragmentation within global environmental regimes. Social learning processes are introduced by scholars and policy makers alike as management approaches for governing complex dynamic systems in situations that feature a high degree of complexity and uncertainty. Scholars argue that actors in complex environmental issue areas can learn in their social context and could develop the necessary knowledge, attitudes and behaviour to enhance their capacity to effectively address the environmental problem. This is where this article picks up the discussion and assesses the impact of a regime’s complexity on its learning capabilities. It further identifies major drivers and barriers of regime learning processes in international environmental regimes.