143 research outputs found
The role of the IGF axis in IGFBP-1 and IGF-I induced renal enlargement in Snell dwarf mice
Insulin-like growth factor (IGF) binding protein-1 (IGFBP-1) is generally
believed to inhibit IGF action in the circulation. In contrast, IGFBP-1
has been reported to interact with cell surfaces and enhance IGF-I action
locally in some tissues. Renal IGFBP-1 levels are found elevated in
various conditions characterized by renal growth (e.g. diabetes mellitus,
hypokalemia). To test whether IGFBP-1 is a renotropic factor, IGFBP-1 was
administered alone or in combination with IGF-I to Snell dwarf mice, an in
vivo model without compensatory feedback effects on growth hormone (GH)
secretion. In three control groups of Snell dwarf mice, placebo, GH or
IGF-I was administered. Compared with placebo, kidney weight increased in
all treated groups, however, with different effects on kidney morphology.
Administration of IGF-I, alone or in combination with IGFBP-1, tended to
increase glomerular volume, while no changes were seen in the other
groups. Administration of IGFBP-1 or IGFBP-1+IGF-I both caused dilatation
of the thin limbs of Henle's loop, while GH or IGF-I administration had no
visible effect. Furthermore, IGF-I administration resulted in an increased
mean number of nuclei per cortical area and renal weight, whereas GH,
IGF-I+IGFBP-1 or IGFBP-1 caused a decreased renal nuclei number. In situ
hybridization and immunohistochemistry showed specific changes of the
renal IGF system expression patterns in the different groups.
Particularly, IGFBP-1 administration resulted in extensive changes in the
mRNA expression of the renal IGF system, whereas the other administration
regimen resulted in less prominent modifications. In contrast,
administration of IGFBP-1 and IGFBP-1+IGF-I resulted in identical changes
in the protein expression of the renal IGF system. Our results indicate
that IGFBP-1, alone or in combination with IGF-I, demonstrated effects on
the renal tubular system that differ from the effects of IGF-I
ESA's Ice Sheets CCI: validation and inter-comparison of surface elevation changes derived from laser and radar altimetry over Jakobshavn Isbræ, Greenland – Round Robin results
In order to increase the understanding of the changing climate, the
European Space Agency has launched the Climate Change Initiative
(ESA CCI), a program which joins scientists and space agencies into
13 projects either affecting or affected by the concurrent
changes. This work is part of the Ice Sheets CCI and four parameters
are to be determined for the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS), each
resulting in a dataset made available to the public: Surface
Elevation Changes (SEC), surface velocities, grounding line
locations, and calving front locations. All CCI projects have
completed a so-called Round Robin exercise in which the scientific
community was asked to provide their best estimate of the sought
parameters as well as a feedback sheet describing their work. By
inter-comparing and validating the results, obtained from research
institutions world-wide, it is possible to develop the most optimal
method for determining each parameter. This work describes the SEC
Round Robin and the subsequent conclusions leading to the creation
of a method for determining GrIS SEC values. The participants used
either Envisat radar or ICESat laser altimetry over Jakobshavn
Isbræ drainage basin, and the submissions led to inter-comparisons
of radar vs. altimetry as well as cross-over vs. repeat-track
analyses. Due to the high accuracy of the former and the high
spatial resolution of the latter, a method, which combines the two
techniques will provide the most accurate SEC estimates. The data
supporting the final GrIS analysis stem from the radar altimeters
on-board Envisat, ERS-1 and ERS-2. The accuracy of laser data
exceeds that of radar altimetry; the Round Robin analysis has,
however, proven the latter equally capable of dealing with surface
topography thereby making such data applicable in SEC analyses
extending all the way from the interior ice sheet to margin
regions. This shows good potential for a~future inclusion of ESA
CryoSat-2 and Sentinel-3 radar data in the analysis, and thus for
obtaining reliable SEC estimates throughout the entire GrIS
Op verhaal komen.:Naar een afgewogen, consistent en betaalbaar stelsel voor compensatie van slachtoffers van een strafbaar feit.
Rapport Adviescollege onderzoek stelsel schadevergoeding voor slachtoffers van strafbare feite
Recognising Victimhood: Lessons from the International Criminal Court and Mass Claim Programmes for the Compensation Procedure Parallel to the Trial of International Crimes in the Netherlands
In the Netherlands, the Dutch criminal court in The Hague (hereinafter: ‘Netherlands International Crimes Court’ or ‘NIC court’) is assigned to try international crimes, and to provide compensation to victims of such crimes. Whereas it has specific criminal laws at its disposal to try international crimes, it applies ‘regular’ Dutch civil law to assess claims for compensation. Yet compensation for international crimes entails challenges that are quite different from domestic crimes: international crimes are normally committed against a large number of victims, and frequently result in bodily harm. This article argues that the NIC court will most likely rule a large number of claims for compensation inadmissible, as a consequence of which victims cannot benefit from the advantages inherent in the award of compensation within the criminal process. It then explores the adjudicative and reparatory standards that the International Criminal Court and mass claim programmes have applied to simplify both the adjudication of a large number of claims, and the calculation of a large number of instances of bodily damage. It is submitted that adoption by the NIC court of international reparatory standards could facilitate the assessment of a large number of civil claims within the criminal process, without prejudice to the legitimate interests of the defendant for an adequate procedure. However, these standards require the NIC court to strike a new balance between tailor-made compensation and symbolic compensation, and thereby between corrective justice and restorative justice
A review of the use of terrestrial laser scanning application for change detection and deformation monitoring of structures
Change detection and deformation monitoring is an active area of research within the field of engineering surveying as well as overlapping areas such as structural and civil engineering. The application of Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) techniques for change detection and deformation monitoring of concrete structures has increased over the years as illustrated in the past studies. This paper presents a review of literature on TLS application in the monitoring of structures and discusses registration and georeferencing of TLS point cloud data as a critical issue in the process chain of accurate deformation analysis. Past TLS research work has shown some trends in addressing issues such as accurate registration and georeferencing of the scans and the need of a stable reference frame, TLS error modelling and reduction, point cloud processing techniques for deformation analysis, scanner calibration issues and assessing the potential of TLS in detecting sub-centimetre and millimetre deformations. However, several issues are still open to investigation as far as TLS is concerned in change detection and deformation monitoring studies such as rigorous and efficient workflow methodology of point cloud processing for change detection and deformation analysis, incorporation of measurement geometry in deformation measurements of high-rise structures, design of data acquisition and quality assessment for precise measurements and modelling the environmental effects on the performance of laser scanning. Even though some studies have attempted to address these issues, some gaps exist as information is still limited. Some methods reviewed in the case studies have been applied in landslide monitoring and they seem promising to be applied in engineering surveying to monitor structures. Hence the proposal of a three-stage process model for deformation analysis is presented. Furthermore, with technological advancements new TLS instruments with better accuracy are being developed necessitating more research for precise measurements in the monitoring of structures
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