No lockdown in the kitchen: How the COVID-19 pandemic has affected food-related behaviours

The COVID-19 pandemic and especially the lockdowns coming with it have been a disruptive event also for food consumption. In order to study the impact of the pandemic on eating habits, self-reported changes in food-related behaviours were investigated in ten European countries by means of an online survey. A latent class cluster analysis distinguished five clusters and showed that different types of consumers can be distinguished based on how they react to the pandemic as regards their eating habits. While food-related behaviours were resilient for 60% of the sample, another 35% reported more enjoyment in cooking and eating, more time in the kitchen and more family meals. Among those, a slight majority also showed signs of more mindful eating, as indicated by more deliberate choices and increased consumption of healthy food, whereas a slight minority reported more consumption of indulgence food. Only 5% indicated less involvement with food. As the COVID-19 pandemic is a disruptive event, some of these changes may have habit-breaking properties and open up new opportunities and challenges for food policy and food industry.This project has received funding from EIT Food, the European Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) on Food, under KAVA 20423Peer reviewe

Soil mobility of surface applied polyaromatic hydrocarbons in response to simulated rainfall

Polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are emitted from a variety of sources and can accumulate on and within surface soil layers. To investigate the level of potential risk posed by surface contaminated soils, vertical soil column experiments were conducted to assess the mobility, when leached with simulated rainwater, of six selected PAHs (naphthalene, phenanthrene, fluoranthene, pyrene, benzo(e)pyrene and benzo(ghi)perylene) with contrasting hydrophobic characteristics and molecular weights/sizes. The only PAH found in the leachate within the experimental period of 26 days was naphthalene. The lack of migration of the other applied PAHs were consistent with their low mobilities within the soil columns which generally parallelled their log Koc values. Thus only 2.3% of fluoranthene, 1.8% of pyrene, 0.2% of benzo(e)pyrene and 0.4% of benzo(ghi)perylene were translocated below the surface layer. The PAH distributions in the soil columns followed decreasing power relationships with 90% reductions in the starting levels being shown to occur within a maximum average depth of 0.94 cm compared to an average starting depth of 0.5 cm. A simple predictive model identifies the extensive time periods, in excess of 10 years, required to mobilise 50% of the benzo(e)pyrene and benzo(ghi)perylene from the surface soil layer. Although this reduces to between 2 and 7 years for fluoranthene and pyrene, it is concluded that the possibility of surface applied PAHs reaching and contaminating a groundwater aquifer is unlikely

Togadragers in de rechtsstaat: de juridische professies en de toegang tot het recht

De juridische ‘togadragers’ vormen de spil van het rechtsbedrijf. In hun dagelijks werk geven rechters, advocaten en officieren van justitie in concrete rechtszaken invulling aan het recht. Ondanks deze centrale rol van de juridische professies werd er in de opleiding van juristen en van aankomende beoefenaren van deze beroepen weinig aandacht besteed aan waar het in deze professies nu eigenlijk om draait. Wat is de rol en functie van deze togaberoepen in de rechtsstaat? Hoe verhouden deze professionals zich tot de organisatie waarbinnen zij hun werk moeten doen? Hoe zit het met hun beroepsethiek en gedragsregels? Wat zijn de kernwaarden van rechter, advocaat en officier? In dit boek worden deze vragen voor het eerst in Nederland op een samenhangende wijze behandeld. Daarbij wordt tevens aandacht besteed aan de betekenis voor togadragers en rechtzoekenden van het grondrecht op toegang tot het recht en in dat kader ook aan het zogeheten toevoegrecht. Ook wordt ingegaan op de ontwikkelingen op het gebied van alternatieve geschilbeslechting. Deze zijn in toenemende mate van invloed op de plaats van gerechtelijke procedures binnen de rechtspleging en daarmee ook op het werk van de togadragers. Dit boek is niet alleen geschikt voor studenten in de laatste fase van hun rechtenstudie, maar ook voor hen die opgeleid worden in de juridische professies. Tevens zal het boek voor degenen die al in deze professies werkzaam zijn nieuwe informatie bevatten en een ander perspectief op het vak van togadrager bieden

Togadragers in de rechtsstaat: De juridische professies en de toegang tot het recht

Dit boek bevat een overzicht van de verschillende togadragers in de rechtsstaat, hun geschiedenis, positie en taakuitoefening. Daarnaast bevat het thema's als toegang tot recht, subsidies voor rechtshulp en rechtsbijstand en alternatieve geschiloplossin

Alterations in the phenotype of plant cells studied by NH(2)-terminal amino acid-sequence analysis of proteins electroblotted from two-dimensional gel-separated total extracts

Phenotypic alterations induced by the cytokinin 6-benzylaminopurine in cell suspensions of Nicotiana plumbaginifolia were studied at the level of the NH(2)-terminal sequence of the constituent proteins. Total protein extracts were separated by classical two-dimensional PAGE, and the proteins were recovered by electroblotting onto support materials allowing direct gas-phase sequence analysis of the immobilized proteins. The systems used consist of an efficient electrotransfer buffer (50 mM Tris borate, pH 8.3) in combination with either glass-fiber sheets to which poly(4-vinyl-N-methylpyridinium iodide) is adsorbed or with membranes of polyvinylidene difluoride. The former is an improved version of our previously reported Polybrene-coated glass-fiber sheets and was found to be at least twice as efficient as the polyvinylidene difluoride blots. Thirteen proteins were selected for analysis. They were either induced, repressed, or independent of cytokinin. Ten proteins yielded a sequence, ranging from 10 to 38 residues. Three of the studied Nicotiana proteins show a degree of homology higher than 85% with the amino acid sequences of other eukaryotic proteins—triose-phosphate isomerase, Mn superoxide dismutase, and (1,3)-β-glucanase. The latter enzyme was repressed by the plant hormone. This study demonstrates that proteins associated with phenotypic variations in cells can now be sequenced by a straightforward procedure involving two-dimensional gel separation of total cellular proteins, recovery by electroblotting, and gas-phase sequence analysis of the immobilized proteins

An S18 ribosomal protein gene copy at the Arabidopsis PFL locus affects plant development by its specific expression in meristems.

In Arabidopsis, mutation at PFL causes pointed first leaves, reduced fresh weight and growth retardation. We have cloned the wild-type PFL gene by T-DNA tagging, and demonstrate that it complements the mutant phenotype. PFL codes for ribosomal protein S18, based on the high homology with rat S18 and on purification of S18-equivalent peptides from plant ribosomes. pfl represents the first mutation in eukaryotic S18 proteins or their S13 prokaryotic counterparts, involved in translation initiation. Arabidopsis contains three S18 gene copies dispersed in the genetic map; they are all transcribed and code for completely identical proteins. No transcript is detected from the mutated gene, S18A. The activity of the S18A promoter is restricted to meristems, with a markedly high expression at the embryonic heart stage, and to wounding sites. This means that plants activate an extra copy of this ribosomal protein gene in tissues with cell division activity. We postulate that in meristematic tissues plants use transcriptional control to synthesize extra ribosomes to increase translational efficiency. In analogy with this, an additional, developmentally regulated gene copy might be expected for all ribosomal proteins

Molecular biological approach to study disease resistance in poplar

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