Nieuwe inzichten in de bouwgeschiedenis van de Sint-Janskerk in Mechelen

Frappant in het onderzoek van de laatgotische Sint-Janskerk is de tegenspraak of toch de ruime chronologische marge tussen data uit geschreven bronnen en dateringen afgeleid uit bouw- en architectuurhistorische observaties. De belangrijkste conclusie met betrekking tot de bouwgeschiedenis is de aanwezigheid van bouwfasen ouder dan de tweede helft van de 15de eeuw, de algemeen aangenomen datering van de Sint-Janskerk op basis van geschreven bronnen. Het koor bevat wellicht een kern uit het midden van de 14de eeuw, terwijl de westtoren omstreeks 1400 werd gebouwd. Het schip en het transept zijn samen met de lichtbeuk en de zuidelijke annex van het koor de jongste delen van de laatgotische kerk. Hun datering blijft in afwachting van nader onderzoek echter onzeker. Hoe de Sint-Janskerk er precies uitzag op het moment van de plechtige inwijding in 1483 moet dus nog worden uitgemaakt

New actors and scales of agriculture:A land system science perspective

The study of land systems aims to disentangle and understand the range of interactions between humans and the land they use. It takes, among others, environmental, biophysical, economic, political, technological, and social perspectives to comprehend how coupled human-environmental systems work, who decides over them, and how they could or should be transformed. Land systems take a central position in human livelihoods and environmental issues, and are a crucial parameter in many Sustainable Development Goals. This thesis starts from the premise that land systems are increasingly changing in ways that are poorly understood from a conventional land system science perspective. Conventional land system science rests on assumptions of mostly gradual processes, driven by a somewhat narrow range of actors, such as family farmers or local land administrations. However, large-scale land acquisitions, arguably the most dramatic land system changes of the 21st century, are definitively non-gradual, operate at scales that are orders of magnitude larger than typical smallholder dynamics, and are instigated by an international group of actors with a very different set of priorities than traditional actors. Pejoratively known as land grabs, large-scale land acquisitions globally cover an area over double the size of Germany, yet as a process, they have not been introduced in land system change models. This lacuna is significant, not only because large-scale land acquisitions cover large areas, but also because they profoundly change the relation that humans have with land as a resource. For example, the conversion of swidden landscapes to rubber monocultures in Southeast Asia causes a significant loss of agro-environmental diversity, but also a complete overhaul of livelihoods, culture, tradition, diets, and more. Furthermore, the constellation of decision-making concerning land is changed, and therefore, the possibilities for sustainable transitions are different. Upon closer inspection, large-scale land acquisitions are merely the most visible manifestation of a more general trend of new actors, changing land systems at new scales. In Sub-Saharan Africa, a trend is being signaled of an emergence of medium-scale farms replacing smallholders, and, as a consequence, commercial agriculture replacing semi-subsistence agriculture. With limited empirical data, it is unclear whether this is an organically appearing structural transformation or an elite capture of land with similar characteristics as large-scale land acquisitions, nor is it clear what the potential consequences are for livelihoods or the environment. Even when farm scales are not perceivably shifting, decision-making concerning land is: value chain actors usurp some of the agency concerning land management from smallholders or state actors, for example by using contract farming. Land system science wishes to understand why land systems have the characteristics they have and change the way they change. To do so, new actors and new scales of changes can no longer be disregarded as mere aberrations. This leads to the overall objective of this thesis, which is to develop concepts and methods to integrate new actors and scales of agriculture into land system science. In pursuing this objective, four research questions are posed. RQ1: What are the land system characteristics related to new agricultural actors? RQ2: How can new agricultural actors, and associated scales of land system change, be integrated in land system models? RQ3: What are the objectives of new actors in agriculture and how do these objectives align or misalign with environmental or rural development objectives? RQ4: How do new actors and arrangements in agriculture provide opportunities for environmental management and rural development? I address these questions in six chapters. A summary of these chapters is given in the thesis

Stenen immigranten in de Zwinstreek. Natuursteen in de Onze-Lieve-Vrouwhemelvaartkerk in Damme

Uit recent onderzoek blijkt de geologische rijkdom in tal van historische gebouwen in Vlaanderen. De variatie aan natuursteen die in de pre-industriële periode als bouwmateriaal werd verwerkt, is groter dan lang werd aangenomen. In de middeleeuwen was natuursteen als vanzelf een importproduct in natuursteenarme gebieden. De Onze-Lieve-Vrouwhemelvaartkerk in Damme, het grootste en best bewaarde middeleeuwse kerkgebouw van de Zwinstreek, toont duidelijk de problematiek van de import van natuursteen in de Vlaamse kustvlakte aan. Hoewel vooral bekend als een exemplarisch gebouw van de baksteenarchitectuur in de kuststreek, bevat de OLV-kerk heel wat natuursteen. Een geologische identificatie en herkomstbepaling van de verschillende steensoorten leverde heel wat nieuwe inzichten op. Daarnaast werden de toeleveringsgebieden van bouwstenen in kaart gebracht, een relevant aandachtspunt gezien de functie van Damme als voorhaven van Brugge in de 13de en 14de eeuw. De precieze geologische identificatie van de steensoorten dient bovendien ook het hedendaagse materiële beheer van het kerkgebouw. Enkel met een accurate geologische identificatie kan de gezondheid en de levensduur van een steen worden geëvalueerd en kunnen onderbouwde keuzes voor restauratie en eventuele vervangmaterialen worden gemaakt

Involvement of the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis and its interaction with the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in the ontogeny of avian thermoregulation: a review

The emergence of thermoregulation in avian species is a complex matter in which neural as well as hormonal processes are involved. In a previous paper, the neural aspects of primary avian thermoregulation were discussed. In this paper the role of the hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid axis (HPT-axis) and the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA-axis) in the ontogeny of avian thermoregulation is evaluated. The regulatory mechanisms and different important hormones of both axes, which have stimulatory or inhibitory effects, are discussed. Because the onset of functionality of the thermoregulatory system is of great interest, the ontogeny and functionality of the hormonal axes are clarified. There is a great difference between precocial and altricial birds in hormonal events as well as in neural processes which are involved in the emergence of thermoregulation. In precocial avian species the HPT-axis becomes functional during the mid- to late embryonic period while the same axis only becomes fully functional during the first week post-hatch in altricial avian species. As early as the sixties, the emergence of homeothermy in chickens was investigated. It was concluded that the thyroid gland plays an important role in the thermoregulatory mechanisms of newly hatched chicks. More recent studies however were not able to show any direct effect of the thyroid hormones on the thermoregulation of day-old chicks, although blocking the conversion of T4 to T3 caused a decrease in body temperature in young chicks. Thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH) is known to act in thermoregulation in mammals and several authors have found an effect of TRH on the metabolism of young and older chicks. However, the exact mechanism still remains unclear. Because the HPT- and the HPA-axis show close relationships, the role of the HPA-axis in the ontogeny of thermoregulation is also taken into consideration in this review. In mammals as well as in birds, corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH) is involved in the primary thermoregulation. We conclude that the HPT-axis has an important role in the ontogeny of avian thermoregulation. The exact role of the HPA-axis remains largely unclear although at least CRH is definitely of some importance

Een middeleeuws huis in Oudenaarde (prov. Oost-Vlaanderen): historisch en bouwhistorisch onderzoek in Hoogstraat 7

Preliminary to a new building project in the historical centre of Oudenaarde (Audenarde), one of the houses in the project area, Hoogstraat 7, was subject to architectural-historical research. At the same time, historical sources in the city archives and other archival collections were consulted. Research was carried out into the evolution of the house and its plot over the centuries, based on landcijnsboeken (censiers) and renteboeken (rent loans). This research revealed that the present-day plot formed part of a larger plot stretching from the Hoogstraat to the Nederstraat. In 1363 this larger plot was still owned by one person, with Hoogstraat 7 as the only building on the site. The division of the large plot into two plots took place between 1408 and 1459. In the latter year another dwelling was built on the plot in the Nederstraat, although in 1474 both houses were still owned by the same person