Belangennetwerken in de sportvisserij

In het kader van de Toekomstverkenning Sportvisserij is het gewenst meer inzicht te krijgen in de organisatiestructuur van de sportvisserij en de daarmee samenhangende belangennetwerken. Via literatuuronderzoek en interviews met sleutelinformanten zijn de relaties tussen sportvisserijorganisaties onderling en met verschillende actoren binnen en buiten de sportvisserij onderzocht. Kenmerk is een concentratietendens: eerst ontstonden hengelsportverenigingen, pachtfondsen en pootvisfondsen. Deze gingen samenwerken binnen federaties, die zich vervolgens verenigden onder grotere koepels. Deze koepels verkeren in verschillende stadia van een professionaliseringsproces waarbij, uit de onderling versterkende werking van de interne dienstverlening en het aantal aangesloten leden, (financiële) ruimte ontstaat voor externe belangenbehartiging

Enrichment and characterization of dendritic cells from human bronchoalveolar lavages

In the present study about 0.3% to 1.6% of human bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cells were identified as typical dendritic cells (DC), having an irregular outline, lobulated nucleus, and clear distinguishable acid phosphatase activity or EBM11 (anti-CD68) reactivity in a spot near the nucleus. After DC enrichment, using transient adherence to plastic, FcR-panning, and a density metrizamide gradient, a population containing 7-8% typical DC was obtained. This DC-enriched low density fraction, containing the highest percentages of DC, very strongly induced T cell proliferation in an allogeneic mixed leucocyte reaction (MLR), which was significantly higher than that induced by other partly (un)fractionated BAL cells. These data indicate that DC seem to be the major accessory cells in the BAL fluid, and therefore may be important in the regulation of T cell immune responses in the lung

Temperature dependent electron-hole recombination in polymer light-emitting diodes

The current density–voltage characteristics of poly(dialkoxy p-phenylene vinylene) based polymer are investigated as a function of temperature. Model calculations show that the differences between single and double carrier devices can be well understood by taking into account a bimolecular recombination process. It is found that the bimolecular recombination is thermally activated with an identical activation energy as measured for the charge carrier mobility. This demonstrates that the recombination process is of the Langevin type, and explains why the conversion efficiency (photon/carrier) of a polymer light-emitting diode is temperature independent

Methylglyoxal down-regulates the expression of cell cycle associated genes and activates the p53 pathway in human umbilical vein endothelial cells

Abstract Although methylglyoxal (MGO) has emerged as key mediator of diabetic microvascular complications, the influence of MGO on the vascular transcriptome has not thoroughly been assessed. Since diabetes is associated with low grade inflammation causing sustained nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) activation, the current study addressed 1) to what extent MGO changes the transcriptome of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) exposed to an inflammatory milieu, 2) what are the dominant pathways by which these changes occur and 3) to what extent is this affected by carnosine, a putative scavenger of MGO. Microarray analysis revealed that exposure of HUVECs to high MGO concentrations significantly changes gene expression, characterized by prominent down-regulation of cell cycle associated genes and up-regulation of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1). KEGG-based pathway analysis identified six significantly enriched pathways of which the p53 pathway was the most affected. No significant enrichment of inflammatory pathways was found, yet, MGO did inhibit VCAM-1 expression in Western blot analysis. Carnosine significantly counteracted MGO-mediated changes in a subset of differentially expressed genes. Collectively, our results suggest that MGO initiates distinct transcriptional changes in cell cycle/apoptosis genes, which may explain MGO toxicity at high concentrations. MGO did not augment TNF-α induced inflammation