Slim ruimtegebruik: hoe kunnen we meer doen met minder ruimte?

Meer dan 25 procent van de Vlaamse ruimte is bebouwd of verhard en prognoses geven aan dat Vlaanderen 30 tot 50 procent verhard zou worden tegen 2050 (Poelmans en Van Rompaey, 2009; Poelmans et al., 2010). De ruimte in Vlaanderen is echter niet oneindig beschikbaar. Willen we verstening een halt toeroepen, dan is een meer duurzame ruimtelijke ontwikkeling noodzakelijk met (her)gebruik van reeds ontwikkelde structuren en gebieden. Dit artikel stelt de resultaten voor van een onderzoek in opdracht van de Vlaamse Overheid waarin aangetoond wordt dat hergebruik een methode kan zijn om de toenemende druk op greenfields -en dus het aansnijden van nieuwe ruimte- te verminderen

Plasma membrane cholesterol is required for efficient pseudorabies virus entry

AbstractAlphaherpesviruses comprise closely related viruses of man and animal, including herpes simplex virus, varicella-zoster virus and pseudorabies virus (PRV). Here, using methyl-beta-cyclodextrin and fluorescently tagged PRV, we directly show that depletion of cholesterol from the plasma membrane of host cells significantly reduces PRV entry. Cholesterol depletion did not reduce PRV attachment, but stalled virus particles at the plasma membrane before penetration of the cell. Cholesterol depletion results in destabilization of lipid raft microdomains in the plasma membrane, which have been shown before to be involved in efficient entry of different viruses. A significant fraction of PRV virions appears to localize juxtaposed to GM1, a lipid raft marker, during entry. Together, these data indicate that cholesterol and possibly cholesterol-rich lipid rafts may be important during PRV entry

Near-Infrared 808 nm Light Boosts Complex IV-Dependent Respiration and Rescues a Parkinson-Related pink1 Model

Mitochondrial electron transport chain (ETC) defects are observed in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and in PD fly- and mouse-models; however it remains to be tested if acute improvement of ETC function alleviates PD-relevant defects. We tested the hypothesis that 808 nm infrared light that effectively penetrates tissues rescues pink1 mutants. We show that irradiating isolated fly or mouse mitochondria with 808 nm light that is absorbed by ETC-Complex IV acutely improves Complex IV-dependent oxygen consumption and ATP production, a feature that is wavelength-specific. Irradiating Drosophila pink1 mutants using a single dose of 808 nm light results in a rescue of major systemic and mitochondrial defects. Time-course experiments indicate mitochondrial membrane potential defects are rescued prior to mitochondrial morphological defects, also in dopaminergic neurons, suggesting mitochondrial functional defects precede mitochondrial swelling. Thus, our data indicate that improvement of mitochondrial function using infrared light stimulation is a viable strategy to alleviate pink1-related defects

Non-Breeding Song Rate Reflects Nutritional Condition Rather than Body Condition

Numerous studies have focused on song in songbirds as a signal involved in mate choice and intrasexual competition. It is expected that song traits such as song rate reflect individual quality by being dependent on energetic state or condition. While seasonal variation in bird song (i.e., breeding versus non-breeding song) and its neural substrate have received a fair amount of attention, the function and information content of song outside the breeding season is generally much less understood. Furthermore, typically only measures of condition involving body mass are examined with respect to song rate. Studies investigating a potential relationship between song rate and other indicators of condition, such as physiological measures of nutritional condition, are scant. In this study, we examined whether non-breeding song rate in male European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) reflects plasma metabolite levels (high-density lipoproteins (HDL), albumin, triglycerides and cholesterol) and/or body mass. Song rate was significantly positively related to a principal component representing primarily HDL, albumin and cholesterol (and to a lesser degree plasma triglyceride levels). There was only a trend toward a significant positive correlation between song rate and body mass, and no significant correlation between body mass and the abovementioned principal component. Therefore, our results indicate that nutritional condition and body mass represent different aspects of condition, and that song rate reflects nutritional rather than body condition. Additionally, we also found that intra-individual song rate consistency (though not song rate itself) was significantly positively related to lutein levels, but not to body mass or nutritional condition. Together our results suggest that the relation between physiological measures of nutritional condition and song rate, as well as other signals, may present an interesting line of future research, both inside and outside the breeding season