Regional labour markets and international labour migration in twentieth-century Europe: the cases of coal mining in Liège (B) and Limburg (NL) compared

In the twentieth century, the coal mines in the neighbouring regions of Dutch Limburg and Liège had to fall back regularly on labour migrants from abroad. However, the number of foreign workers differed considerably regionally and in time. In this article the different migration histories are analysed in the context of the different life cycles of mining in each district. In the older mining basin of Liège the occupation of miner had been transferred from generation to generation from the nineteenth century onwards. In the period until ca. 1935 this tradition started to disappear, but the mines in Liège could still find enough workers on the inner-Belgian labour market, most of them Flemish. The Dutch mining industry only started to grow from the beginning of the twentieth century. The German hinterland had to provide the majority of experienced miners. For that reason, until the 1930s the recruitment of foreigners was considerably larger in the Netherlands than in Liège. By contrast, after the Second World War demographic and labour market conditions in Limburg enabled the Dutch mines to recruit young Limburgers on a massive scale. The mines in Liège became much more dependent on labour migrants, as Belgians were hardly willing to work in the mines anymore and found alternative employment in other booming industries

The uPA(+/+)-SCID mouse with humanized liver as a model for in vivo metabolism of 4-androstene-3,17-dione

The metabolism in primary human hepatocyte cultures often deviates from that in clinical studies, which in turn are hampered by ethical constraints. Here the use of urokinase-type plasminogen activator-severe combined immunodeficiency [uPA(+/+)-SCID] mice transplanted with human hepatocytes was investigated as a model for in vivo metabolic studies. The urinary excretion profile after oral administration of 4-androstene-3,17-dione (AD) in chimeric mice was investigated by using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry detection and was compared with previously reported metabolites of AD in humans and cell cultures. Chimeric mice exhibited an AD metabolic profile similar to that of humans, showing androsterone and etiocholanolone as major metabolites. Several hydroxylated steroids were detected as minor metabolites in the chimeric mice compared with hepatocyte cultures. A significant correlation between the extent of liver replacement and the relative abundances of human-type metabolites was established. The results for AD showed that humanized liver uPA-SCID mice can serve as an alternative model for in vivo metabolism studies in humans. In the future, this model could possibly be used for other steroids or pharmaceutical compounds

A Post-industrial Walk in Genk. Engaging with heritage through participatory design

status: Published onlin