Summary of the 9th Life Science Symposium: integration of nutrition and exercise sciences

The Life Science Symposium held by the Nutrition Research Committee of the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) Japan in 2018, “Fusion of Nutrition and Exercise Sciences Leading to Extension of Healthy Life Expectancy,” covered current topics in the science of nutrition and exercise to address extending healthy life expectancy. Presentation topics included (1) lifestyle and gut microbiota; (2) how to use lipids in sports nutrition; (3) the effect and molecular mechanism of improvement of arteriosclerosis by exercise and nutrition; (4) physical activity and nutrition that support brain function; (5) skeletal muscles and food ingredients that support healthy longevity; (6) measures against sarcopenia by exercise and nutrient intake; (7) physical activity/exercise for disease prevention; (8) nutritional epidemiology research for the Japanese population; (9) new developments in health science in viewed from nutrition and intestinal flora; (10) why do Asians develop nonobese metabolic disease?; and (11) social implementation of the health promotion program by ILSI Japan. The speakers emphasized the promotion of research on exercise and nutrition interactions and encouraged social implementation of the research results in public and private sectors.

‘Breakthrough’ political science: Multi-level governance – Reconceptualising Europe’s modernised polity

Multi-level governance has provoked debates over the last quarter century as the thinking of Liesbet Hooghe and Gary Marks has progressed. That thinking has been both innovative and eclectic, forming a number of intellectual ‘story arcs’ that part ways, develop and mature, then recombine with renewed force. We take Hooghe and Marks’ Multi-Level Governance and European Integration as a pivotal moment in the development of that thinking. We then trace the ‘story arcs’ of multi-level governance by pinpointing three questions. Does multi-level governance ‘travel’ as a viable analytical framework much beyond cohesion policy? Does multi-level governance give analytical purchase beyond the European Union? And is multi-level governance merely a descriptive framework or does it embed or give rise to theory? We conclude by shortly summarising the contributions to this Breakthrough Political Science Symposium.