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Compartimentspecifieke Remming van Synaptische Autofagie: Rab39-Gemedieerde Regulatie van Atg9-Vesikeltransport
No full textSynapses, the primary sites of neuronal communication, are highly dynamic structures that require efficient mechanisms to maintain protein homeostasis. Unlike the soma, synapses must independently manage the clearance of dysfunctional proteins and organelles, particularly under stress conditions caused by synaptic activity. Disruptions in this process are strongly linked to neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's disease (PD), where synaptic dysfunction is often an early pathological feature. Autophagy, a critical pathway for protein and organelle degradation, has emerged as a key mechanism in maintaining synaptic health. However, the regulation of synaptic autophagy and its interplay with other cellular processes, such as membrane trafficking, remain poorly understood. Recent studies suggest that EndophilinA (EndoA), a synapse-specific protein implicated in endocytosis, also plays a role in autophagosome formation at synapses. Given its interactions with PD-related proteins, EndoA may serve as a critical node linking synaptic autophagy to neurodegeneration. To identify novel genetic regulators of synaptic autophagy and neuroprotection, we aim to conduct a forward genetic screen using Drosophila as a model. This study will uncover key molecular pathways that regulate synaptic autophagy and provide new insights into therapeutic targets for neurodegenerative diseases.status: Publishe
Het ontrafelen van luchtweg-hyperreactiviteit en luchtweginflammatie bij astma en inspanningsgeïnduceerde bronchoconstrictie
No full textPathophysiology of Exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB) Exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB) is defined as a transient narrowing of the airways after (vigorous) exercise and occurs in 10 to 15% of the general population with an even higher prevalence in athletes and patients with asthma. EIB is a form of airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) whereby the airways have the tendency to constrict more easily and more forcefully in response to a bronchoconstrictor stimulus (1,2) and which may result in breathlessness, cough, wheezing, chest tightness, and mucus production (3). However, respiratory symptoms after vigorous exercise are neither sensitive nor specific for the presence of EIB and a formal diagnosis is often based on direct (histamine) or indirect (hyperventilation, exercise) bronchoprovocation tests that identify AHR consistent with EIB (3). There are currently no biomarkers that may predict the presence of EIB. The exact mechanisms underlying EIB have also insufficiently been elucidated. Dehydration and cooling (the osmotic and thermal hypothesis) are proposed to explain the pathogenesis of EIB. Current treatment of EIB is similar to the treatment of asthma. We hypothesize that intense physical activity in combination with environmental exposure such as air pollution and/or cold air exposure may induce epithelial dysfunction (with secretion of alarmins) and the activation of the innate immune system and leukocyte recruitment. In this project, (1) we want to further investigate the role of biomarkers (in serum and sputum) in the diagnosis of EIB in healthy subjects and athletes (w/wo asthma), (2) we want to unravel the pathophysiological mechanisms of EIB induced by exercising when exposed to cold air with/without air pollution, both in an animal model as well as in human subjects and (3) we want to evaluate the effect of targeted treatment (e.g. with azithromycin, anti-IL-13, anti-TSLP or other) in the prevention of EIB when exposed to cold air. References 1. Weiss JT, Dawson JC, Fraser C, Rybski W, Torres-Sánchez C, Bradley M, et al. Development and bioorthogonal activation of palladium-labile prodrugs of gemcitabine. J Med Chem. 2014 Jun 26;57(12):5395-404. 2. Boulet L-P, O'Byrne PM. Asthma and Exercise-Induced Bronchoconstriction in Athletes. N Engl J Med [Internet]. 2015 Feb 12 [cited 2021 May 31];372(7):641-8. Available from: https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMra1407552 3. Pasnick SD, Carlos WG, Arunachalam A, Celestin FM, Parsons JP, Hallstrand TS, et al. Exercise-induced bronchoconstriction [Internet]. Vol. 11, Annals of the American Thoracic Society. American Thoracic Society; 2014 [cited 2021 May 31]. p. 1651-2. Available from: http://www.thoracic.org/status: Publishe
Optimalizatie van lijnstralingstransport om efficiënt de steromgeving te modelleren: synthetische observaties en koeling van de sterwinden van AGB sterren
No full textElectromagnetic radiation provides an efficient heating and cooling mechanism that plays a crucial role throughout astrophysics. Radiative cooling critically determines, for instance, both the birth and the death of stars: radiative cooling dictates (1) whether a giant molecular cloud can cool enough during its gravitational collapse to reach a sufficient density for stars to form, and (2) whether the outer layers of evolved stars can cool enough to provide the conditions for dust condensation to occur and hence for a wind to be initiated. Despite the paramount importance of radiative cooling, it is often only included in an approximate way since a full treatment is computationally too expensive. Additionally, existing formulations all critically lack any kind of uncertainty quantification, making it hard to draw stringent conclusions. In this project, we will develop a probabilistic method to compute radiative cooling that naturally allows for uncertainty quantification. Furthermore, we will alleviate the computational burden with a hybrid solver/emulator that uses expensive cooling only on a small part of the model and leverages a trained emulator to infer the result on the remaining part. This allows us to model radiative cooling at unprecedented speeds and with uncertainty quantification. We will demonstrate our new cooling approach in two applications: by tracing the thermochemical structure of stellar winds, and by quantifying the stability of star-forming clouds.status: Publishe
Who deserves to stay? Latent profiles of public perceptions of migrant deservingness in Turkey
No full textsponsorship: David De Coninck was supported by funding from the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) with grant number 1219824N (DeMiSo) (Research Foundation Flanders (FWO)|1219824N)status: Publishe
Intergroepexposure in tijd en ruimte Een kwantitatieve analyse van segregatie in activiteitenruimten
No full textMeasuring urban segregation - the uneven distribution of people in cities - is both necessary and challenging. It is necessary because it allows us to track changes in the city over time, assess the impact of urban policies, and explain other phenomena that may stem from segregation itself. One such example is our attitudes toward other groups: how welcoming we are toward people with a migrant background, or how much trust we have toward other ethnicities. This has much to do with how familiar we are with other groups. This familiarity grows through contact and exposure, which is, among other factors, limited by segregation. This is why measuring segregation is necessary. But why is it difficult? Reasons range from technical limitations and lack of universal definitions, up to the fundamental question whether any urban experience can be precisely measured. Segregation, as any other urban experience, can be very individual and shaped by many hard-to-measure factors. But even if we cannot measure it perfectly, we can move closer using new tools. This thesis applies such tools, using a new type of data to improve segregation measurement. Instead of limiting the analysis to one's residential area, it includes the places visited during daily activities - reflecting the fact that we meet people not only where we live but also where we spend time. Using large-scale geolocation data from mobile applications and social media, the research examines how incorporating mobility changes our measure of, and perspective on, segregation. The findings show that daily mobility strongly alters exposure levels: people from low-diversity areas often experience more diversity in their daily movements - and this holds for both residents with a migratory background and native-born residents. Importantly, acknowledging the role of mobility opens the door to new questions: for example, how does the level of segregation change across different spaces in the city , or how does segregation fluctuate within a 24-hour rhythm? I found that certain amenities - for example, green areas and public transport hubs - act as spaces of mixing, while others reinforce separation. We also show that incorporating the time component changes our understanding of segregation levels across different areas. Lastly, we return to the motivation for measuring segregation - its potential to explain attitudes. We found that acknowledging mobility can help in this regard: in particular, areas attracting more diverse visitors are linked with more positive attitudes towards migrants, demonstrating that visitor diversity, not just resident diversity, matters for social cohesion. Overall, this research demonstrates that incorporating mobility into segregation measurement changes both the results and the questions we can ask. Mobility reveals that segregation is not fixed but shifts 6 across space and time, with certain urban spaces acting as pivotal nodes in these dynamics. This perspective moves the debate beyond static descriptions of where people live and into the realm of how cities function socially on a day-to-day basis. It connects segregation research more closely to fundamental questions about urban equality, the right to the city, and the design of spaces that foster meaningful encounters across social boundaries. By treating segregation as a dynamic process shaped by movement, accessibility, and temporal rhythms, this work offers a framework that can better inform policies aimed at social cohesion and inclusion in increasingly diverse urban societiesstatus: Publishe
Monetary valuation of a monumental tree: The case of the heritage honey tree in Leuven
No full textsponsorship: FWO|S005523Nstatus: Published onlin
Van reglementeren en remunereren naar reclameren, remediëren, reduceren en refuseren: het Reprobel II-arrest van het Hof van Justitie
No full textOp 14 november 2024 kent het Hof van Justitie van de Europese Unie verticale rechtstreekse werking toe aan artikel 5, § 2, a) en b) Richtlijn Informatiemaatschappij na een prejudiciële verwijzing van de ondernemingsrechtbank Gent, afdeling Gent in een procedure tussen Reprobel cv en Copaco Belgium nv. Het Hof van Justitie oordeelt dat deze bepaling voldoet aan de vereisten voor rechtstreekse werking en inroepbaar is tegen Reprobel als entiteit die belast is met een taak van algemeen belang en daarvoor bijzondere bevoegdheden heeft. Na een overzicht van de feiten en procedurele voorgaanden (sectie 1) herinnert deze bijdrage eerst aan een aantal relevante basisprincipes van EU-recht (sectie 2). Daarna ligt de focus op het arrest zelf (sectie 3). Hierbij komt eerst de vraag aan bod of artikel 5, § 2, a) en b) Richtlijn Informatiemaatschappij onvoorwaardelijk en voldoende nauwkeurig is om rechtstreekse werking te verkrijgen. Daarna volgt de vraag of Copaco deze rechtstreekse werking als particuliere entiteit al dan niet kan inroepen tegen Reprobel in de bodemprocedure. De laatste inhoudelijke sectie behandelt een aantal verdere reflecties over de mogelijke gevolgen van het arrest van het Hof van Justitie in deze zaak (sectie 4).status: Publishe
Essays over de economie van veroudering
No full textCountries worldwide are being confronted with an ageing society, with the share of the oldest old growing particularly fast. While increased life expectancy is cause for celebration, it also brings substantial economic and fiscal pressures, especially due to the rising demand for long-term care and the growing strain on pension systems. To ensure the sustainability of both long-term care and pension systems, it is essential to adapt public policies to address these evolving needs. A critical component of tackling these challenges lies in understanding how individual decisions — ranging from employment choices to the use of long-term care services — are shaped by economic incentives, such as subsidies, non-wage benefits, and alternative care options.
My research seeks to address these challenges by examining the key factors driving retirement income and the demand for long-term care services. Specifically, my dissertation focuses on three main areas:
First, I conduct a hypothetical choice experiment to investigate how individuals make trade-offs between wage and non-wage benefits when selecting jobs, with a specific focus on the retirement income effects. This provides insights into how individuals' job choice behavior might change when they are reminded of the long-term impact of their wages on retirement income. We find that providing pension information affects job choices, especially among women. As the effect is mainly present for women, improving pension literacy could potentially help reduce the gender pension gap.
Second, I analyze the price sensitivity of long-term care patients within the context of the German long-term care insurance system. This includes assessing the effects of subsidization policies for informal, formal, and institutional care, with a particular emphasis on counterfactual scenarios that explore how changes in subsidies for informal care affect demand. Our findings show that subsidies for informal care play a very important role in shaping the demand for long-term care services. Not providing these subsidies leads to welfare losses for patients and higher expenditures for the government.
Finally, I evaluate the role of residential respite care in delaying transitions to long-term care facilities, using Belgian administrative data. I examine whether residential respite care can reduce the likelihood of individuals moving to institutionalized care. Our results suggest that residential respite care can play an important role in supporting "ageing in place" initiatives, as it helps delay or even prevent institutionalization.
Overall, my work contributes to a better understanding of the economic factors shaping retirement income and long-term care demand, with implications for policies that aim to support sustainable pension systems and effective long-term care provision.status: Publishe
Assessment of Local Influence in the Fitting of Lactation Curves Using Nonlinear Mixed Models
No full textsponsorship: This work was supported by the Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior - Brasil (CAPES) under Grant 001. (Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior - Brasil (CAPES)|001)status: Published onlin
De rol van preoperatieve angst bij de ontwikkeling van postoperatief delier bij oudere chirurgische patiënten
No full textThe overall aim of my PhD study is to assess the role of preoperative anxiety in the development of postoperative delirium (POD) in older surgical patients by reviewing the literature; and by developing, finetuning and evaluating an intervention to reduce preoperative anxiety and the incidence of POD. POD is an adverse complication that manifests as acute and fluctuating alterations of mental status, involving disturbances in attention, consciousness, and cognition. The incidence of POD among older patients undergoing cardiac and major noncardiac surgery is reported to be as high as 60%, and POD leads to multiple adverse outcomes, including higher morbidity and mortality, an increase in the duration of hospitalization, and higher rates of readmission and functional decline, as well as increased levels of dependency in activities of daily living post-discharge. It is estimated that 25%-80% of patients admitted to the hospital for surgery experience preoperative anxiety, and anxiety can negatively influence patient recovery. However, data on preoperative anxiety and its relationship with POD, especially in older patients, are scarce. Only few studies have explored this relationship, with most of them showing inconclusive results due to methodological problems (e.g. small sample sizes and conceptual issues with regard to the evaluation of preoperative anxiety and POD). Hence, more rigorous research targeting the role of preoperative anxiety in the development of POD in older surgical patients is needed, as well as the development and evaluation of preoperative anxiety reducing interventions and their effects on POD.status: Publishe