The opposite of Dante's hell? The transfer of ideas for social housing at international congresses in the 1850s–1860s

With the advent of industrialization, the question of developing adequate housing for the emergent working classes became more pressing than before. Moreover, the problem of unhygienic houses in industrial cities did not stop at the borders of a particular nation-state; sometimes literally as pandemic diseases spread out 'transnationally'. It is not a coincidence that in the nineteenth century the number of international congresses on hygiene and social topics expanded substantially. However, the historiography about social policy in general and social housing in particular, has often focused on individual cases because of the different pace of industrial and urban development and is thus dominated by national perspectives. In this paper, I elaborate on transnational exchange processes and local adaptations and transformations. I focus on the transfer of the housing model of SOMCO in Mulhouse, (a French house building association) during social international congresses. I examine whether cross-national networking enabled and facilitated the implementation of ideas on the local scale. I will elaborate on the transmission and the local adaptation of the Mulhouse-model in Belgium. Convergences, divergences, and different factors that influenced the local transformations (personal choice, political situation, socioeconomic circumstances) will be taken into accoun

A Rapid Flp-In System for Expression of Secreted H5N1 Influenza Hemagglutinin Vaccine Immunogen in Mammalian Cells

Continuing transmissions of highly pathogenic H5N1 viruses in poultry and humans underscores the need for a rapid response to potential pandemic in the form of vaccine. Recombinant technologies for production of immunogenic hemagglutinin (HA) could provide an advantage over the traditional inactivated vaccine manufacturing process. Generation of stably transfected mammalian cells secreting properly folded HA proteins is important for scalable controlled manufacturing.We have developed a Flp-In based 293 stable cell lines through targeted site-specific recombination for expression of secreted hemagglutinin (HA) proteins and evaluated their immunogenicity. H5N1 globular domain HA1(1-330) and HA0(1-500) proteins were purified from the supernatants of 293 Flp-In stable cell lines. Both proteins were properly folded as confirmed by binding to H5N1-neutralizing conformation-dependent human monoclonal antibodies. The HA0 (with unmodified cleavage site) was monomeric, while the HA1 contained oligomeric forms. Upon rabbit immunization, both HA proteins elicited neutralizing antibodies against the homologous virus (A/Vietnam/1203/2004, clade 1) as well as cross-neutralizing antibodies against heterologous H5N1 clade 2 strains, including A/Indonesia/5/2005. These results exceeded the human antibody responses against the inactivated sub-virion H5N1 vaccine.Our data suggest that the 293 Flp-In system could serve as a platform for rapid expression of HA immunogens in mammalian cells from emerging influenza strains

Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of hydrothermal pretreated lignocellulosic biomass: evaluation of process performance under multiple stress conditions

Industrial lignocellulosic bioethanol processes are exposed to different environmental stresses (such as inhibitor compounds, high temperature, and high solid loadings). In this study, a systematic approach was followed where the liquid and solid fractions were mixed to evaluate the influence of varied solid loadings, and different percentages of liquor were used as liquid fraction to determine inhibitor effect. Ethanol production by simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) of hydrothermally pretreated Eucalyptus globulus wood (EGW) was studied under combined diverse stress operating conditions (3038 °C, 6080 g of liquor from hydrothermal treatment or autohydrolysis (containing inhibitor compounds)/100 g of liquid and liquid to solid ratio between 4 and 6.4 g liquid in SSF/g unwashed pretreated EGW) using an industrial Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain supplemented with low-cost byproducts derived from agro-food industry. Evaluation of these variables revealed that the combination of temperature and higher solid loadings was the most significant variable affecting final ethanol concentration and cellulose to ethanol conversion, whereas solid and autohydrolysis liquor loadings had the most significant impact on ethanol productivity. After optimization, an ethanol concentration of 54 g/L (corresponding to 85 % of conversion and 0.51 g/Lh of productivity at 96 h) was obtained at 37 °C using 60 % of autohydrolysis liquor and 16 % solid loading (liquid to solid ratio of 6.4 g/g). The selection of a suitable strain along with nutritional supplementation enabled to produce noticeable ethanol titers in quite restrictive SSF operating conditions, which can reduce operating cost and boost the economic feasibility of lignocellulose-to-ethanol processes.The authors thank the financial support from the Strategic Project of UID/BIO/04469/2013 CEB Unit and A Romaní postdoctoral grant funded by Xunta of Galicia (Plan I2C, 2014)

Social-ecological assessment of Lake Manyara basin, Tanzania: A mixed method approach.

This research article published by Elsevier Ltd., 2020The social-ecological system of the Lake Manyara basin (Northern Tanzania), a UNESCO Biosphere reserve (BR) suffers from social-economic and environmental problems due to decreasing water levels, erosion and land and water use conflicts. We propose an integrated assessment of the social-ecological interactions of the area to support future sustainable management. Within the Drivers-Pressures-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework an integrated literature review and several methods of knowledge collection were combined to identify future management priorities and challenges. During focus groups with farmers and pastoralists, stakeholders confirmed the role played by land use changes as driver and pressure in the landscape, e.g. through increased erosion rates and siltation of the lake. Moreover, economic and social issues were identified as prominent factors being influenced by, or influencing these processes. These statements match the scientific literature. During participatory mapping exercises different spatial and resource allocation perceptions appeared amongst pastoralists and farmers. The multidisciplinary approach proved to be useful to acquire an integrated and comprehensive understanding of the state, challenges and opportunities of Lake Manyara BR, to feed into a decision support system in service of an integrated management plan. Our assessment suggests that improved water governance in a multi-actor approach (with a focus on distribution of benefits, rights, and a specific role of the water authorities) should be a priority for future integrated management strategies. Also, awareness raising amongst decision makers, scientists and local communities is needed to demonstrate the advantages of an integrated approach. And finally, visible and fair mechanisms to share conservation revenues should be designed in a way that local benefits can be obtained together with incentive mechanisms for co-management and conservation

Genesis and spread of multiple reassortants during the 2016/2017 H5 avian influenza epidemic in Eurasia

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses of the H5 A/goose/Guangdong/1/96 lineage can cause severe disease in poultry and wild birds, and occasionally in humans. In recent years, H5 HPAI viruses of this lineage infecting poultry in Asia have spilled over into wild birds and spread via bird migration to countries in Europe, Africa, and North America. In 2016/2017, this spillover resulted in the largest HPAI epidemic on record in Europe and was associated with an unusually high frequency of reassortments between H5 HPAI viruses and cocirculating low-pathogenic avian influenza viruses. Here, we show that the seven main H5 reassortant viruses had various combinations of gene segments 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6. Using detailed time-resolved phylogenetic analysis, most of these gene segments likely originated from wild birds and at dates and locations that corresponded to their hosts' migratory cycles. However, some gene segments in two reassortant viruses likely originated from domestic anseriforms, either in spring 2016 in east China or in autumn 2016 in central Europe. Our results demonstrate that, in addition to domestic anseriforms in Asia, both migratory wild birds and domestic anseriforms in Europe are relevant sources of gene segments for recent reassortant H5 HPAI viruses. The ease with which these H5 HPAI viruses reassort, in combination with repeated spillovers of H5 HPAI viruses into wild birds, increases the risk of emergence of a reassortant virus that persists in wild bird populations yet remains highly pathogenic for poultry

De bijdrage van extra-orale smaakreceptoren en maag-darmhormonen in het effect van zoetstoffen en bariatrische chirurgie op obesitas

The obesity rates continue to rise worldwide and are associated with adverse health problems, including increased risk of type 2 diabetes. Excessive weight gain is often considered to be the result of excessive food intake and/or insufficient physical activity. In addition, the food landscape has shifted dramatically over the past several decades and the increased consumption of soft drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages is considered as a major contributor to the obesity epidemic. Not surprisingly, non-caloric sweeteners have increased in popularity over the years as a mean to facilitate weight loss by reducing the sugar content of meals without affecting its taste. Next to these non-caloric sweeteners, low-caloric prebiotic sweeteners (oligofructose; OFS) have been proposed as functional food ingredients that could improve lipid metabolism and body weight through beneficial effects ascribed to their fermentation products, the short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). When dietary changes are insufficient, pharmacotherapy can be added, although the risks and modest nature of weight loss that can be achieved with these anti-obesity drugs highlights the need for new treatment strategies. The gastrointestinal tract is an obvious target for new anti-obesity treatment strategies as it coordinates the release of gut hormones, such as the 'hunger hormone' ghrelin and satiety hormones GLP-1 and PYY, to regulate energy uptake and utilization. Restoring postprandial gut hormone levels (ghrelin, GLP-1, PYY), known to be dysregulated in obesity, may play a role in the metabolic improvements after bariatric surgery such as Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery. RYGB surgery is still an invasive technique but mimicking the sustained and enhanced release of GLP-1 and PYY through combination therapy might be a valuable, non-invasive alternative for bariatric surgery. The magnitude of postprandial gut hormone release depends on the meal composition. Several taste receptors (sweet, umami, bitter, fatty acid) and the taste receptor coupled G-protein, α-gustducin, are not only present on taste buds of the tongue but also on entero-endocrine cells (EECs) and may tune gut hormone release according to the macronutrient composition of the meal. The physiological role of taste receptors on EECs has not been fully elucidated yet. In this thesis, we aimed to unravel whether α-gustducin coupled sweet taste receptors (TAS1R2-TAS1R3) play a role in the sensing of carbohydrates and sweeteners by the ghrelin cell. In addition, we elucidated whether intragastric supplementation of artificial sweeteners (sucralose) or prebiotic sweeteners (OFS) can prevent the deleterious effects of a high-fat diet in mice by altering gut hormone release through gustducin-mediated taste receptor activation. As a last aim, we investigated the effect of nutrient rerouting during RYGB surgery on the gustducin-mediated signaling pathways that contribute to the metabolic improvements and physiological adaptations along the gut after RYGB surgery. In the first part of this thesis we investigated if α-gustducin mediated sweet taste receptor signaling is involved in the sensing of sweeteners by the ghrelin cell in three different experimental models (a ghrelinoma cell line, ex vivo intestinal segments, in vivo experiments). The carbohydrate D-glucose and prebiotic sweetener OFS decreased ghrelin release from a gastric ghrelinoma cell line at concentrations physiological to the postprandial luminal fluid. In contrast, the artificial sweetener sucralose increased ghrelin release in vitro at a supraphysiological (200mM) concentration. Furthermore, by using pharmacological inhibitors we showed that neither sweet taste receptor activation, nor glucose transport (SGLT-1, GLUT family) played a role in the effect of D-glucose, OFS or sucralose on ghrelin release from the ghrelinoma cell line. Ghrelin release from gastric (only containing the TAS1R3 subunit) and jejunal (containing the TAS1R2 and TAS1R3 subunit) segments from WT and α-gust-/-mice, mimicked the in vitro effects of the sweeteners in the ghrelinoma cell line to a similar extent in both genotypes. These findings indicate that the effect of D-glucose, OFS and sucralose on ghrelin release is neither α-gustducin nor region-dependent and thus does not involve the α-gustducin coupled TAS1R2-TAS1R3 heterodimer. Intragastric, but not intravenous administration of D-glucose decreased plasma octanoyl ghrelin levels in WT and α-gust-/- mice. These results indicate that the sensing of D-glucose is polarized and occurs via the luminal side of the X/A cell. In contrast, neither OFS nor sucralose at "equisweet" concentrations affected octanoyl ghrelin release after an intragastric administration in WT or α-gust-/- mice. In conclusion, our findings indicate that α-gustducin-mediated sweet taste receptor signaling does not play a functional role in the effect of sweeteners on ghrelin release. In contrast to the in vitro findings, only acute intragastric administration of D-glucose but not OFS or sucralose affected ghrelin release. In the second part of this thesis we studied whether daily intragastric administration of equisweet concentrations of an artificial sweetener (sucralose) or a prebiotic sweetener (OFS) for 8 weeks can prevent high-fat diet induced body weight gain, glucose intolerance and impairment of gut permeability, via activation of taste receptors coupled to α-gustducin, using WT and α-gust-/- mice. Sucralose administration did not modulate gut hormone release nor did it prevent body weight gain or glucose intolerance. Instead we provided evidence that OFS (300 mg/day) administration decreased HFD-induced body weight gain with about 20% without improving glucose homeostasis. This effect was not accompanied by a reduced food intake. Furthermore, OFS induced a similar but delayed decrease in body weight gain in α-gust-/- mice, indicating that the α-gustducin mediated signaling pathway did not play a major role in this effect. OFS administration did not affect plasma levels of 'the hunger hormone' ghrelin and 'satiety hormone' PYY, but decreased plasma levels of 'the satiety hormone' GLP-1 in WT mice. These changes in gut hormone levels cannot explain the beneficial effects on body weight. Neither OFS, nor sucralose administration altered the mRNA expression levels of the TAS1R2 or TAS1R3 subunit of the sweet taste receptor in the gastro-intestinal tract. However, OFS supplementation decreased cecal acetate and butyrate levels, downregulated colonic short chain fatty acid receptor (FFAR2/3) mRNA levels and upregulated FFAR2 in peripheral adipose tissue. These findings suggest that, not sweet taste receptor activation, but enhanced uptake of SCFAs produced by the fermentation of OFS interacting with FFAR2 in peripheral adipose tissue may reduce adipogenesis and lead to the decrease (60%) in fat mass. Moreover, OFS improved the increased colonic permeability which results in metabolic complications in obesity, independent from taste receptors coupled to α-gustducin. In conclusion, this study provided evidence that despite the controversy in the field, artificial sweeteners are metabolically inert. Furthermore, neither OFS nor sucralose affected TAS1R2 or TAS1R3 mRNA levels, while OFS supplementation altered FFAR2/3 expression levels in the gastrointestinal tract and on adipose tissue. Therefore, not sucralose but OFS and especially the produced SCFAs, are interesting metabolites that could beneficially affect body weight gain. In the third part we studied the role of gustducin-mediated signaling in the metabolic improvements and intestinal adaptations along the gut after RYGB surgery in obese WT and α-gust-/- mice. We showed that RYGB surgery decreased body weight in WT and a-gust-/- mice. Furthermore, pair-feeding to the RYGB group induced similar blood glucose and plasma insulin profiles during an oral glucose tolerance test compared to RYGB surgery, indicating that the reduced food intake after RYGB surgery was responsible for the improved glucose homeostasis. Moreover, a-gust-/- mice were partially protected from the diabetogenic properties of a western style diet, highlighting the importance of the gustatory signaling pathway in glucose homeostasis. After RYGB surgery plasma GLP1 levels were increased in both genotypes, plasma PYY levels were increased in α-gust-/-mice and plasma octanoyl ghrelin levels were not affected. The mechanism behind the postsurgical changes in gut hormone levels seemed to differ between WT and a-gust-/- mice. In WT mice, nutrients act via α-gustducin to increase L-cell differentiation (in the Roux limb which comes in contact with more undigested nutrients) and L-cell number (Roux limb and colon) after RYGB surgery, in a region-dependent manner. However, this nutrient rerouting did not alter the mRNA expression levels of nutrient sensors in the Roux Limb, nor did it alter bacterial fermentation in the caecum of WT mice. In contrast, a-gust-/- mice did not display an altered L-cell number or L-cell differentiation in the Roux limb or colon. However, a-gust-/- mice did show increased mRNA expression levels of the glucose transporters (SGLT1 and GLUT2) and the protein sensor (LPAR5) in the Roux limb. Furthermore, RYGB surgery changed bacterial fermentation in the caecum of a-gust-/- mice, which showed increased butyrate and propionate levels compared to WT mice. This resulted in decreased colonic FFAR2/3 mRNA levels in a-gust-/- mice. These results suggest that a changed L-cell number and differentiation will be responsible for the increased plasma GLP-1 levels in WT mice. In contrast, alterations in nutrient signaling in the foregut, and altered bacterial fermentation and short-chain fatty acid sensing in the distal gut of a-gust-/- mice could explain the increased plasma GLP-1 and PYY levels in this genotype. Finally, signaling via α-gustducin plays a role in the increased ion transport of the foregut but not in the improvement in colonic barrier function. To summarize, our findings do not indicate a major contribution of gustducin-mediated signaling in the metabolic effects of RYGB. Nevertheless, RYGB activated several regulatory systems in which the gustducin mediated signaling pathway plays a role. This study highlights that nutrients cannot only serve as fuel but may regulate a number of physiological processes after RYGB surgery such as tuning of gut hormone release which is the result of multifaceted intestinal adaptations along the gut. Importantly, these gut hormones could contribute to the observed metabolic improvements after RYGB surgery. In conclusion our studies suggest that the canonical sweet taste receptor signaling pathway does not seem to play a major role in the sensing of carbohydrates or sweeteners by the ghrelin cell. Furthermore, in vivo targeting of sweet taste receptors on entero-endocrine cells by supplementing artificial sweeteners directly into the stomach for several weeks does not help to prevent the development of obesity nor type 2 diabetes. In contrast, prebiotic sweeteners seem to be more promising since their fermentation products target SCFA receptors. On a long term basis their effect on short-chain fatty acid induced gut hormone release does not seem to play a major role in the development of obesity but their capacity to alter expression levels of SCFA receptors on adipose tissue might be relevant. Finally, gustducin-mediated nutrient sensing does not play a role in the effect of RYGB surgery on the energy-and glucose homeostasis, but altered gut hormone levels might.status: publishe

Chemoreceptors in the Gut

The gastrointestinal tract represents the largest interface between the human body and the external environment. It must continuously monitor and discriminate between nutrients that need to be assimilated and harmful substances that need to be expelled. The different cells of the gut epithelium are therefore equipped with a subtle chemosensory system that communicates the sensory information to several effector systems involved in the regulation of appetite, immune responses, and gastrointestinal motility. Disturbances or adaptations in the communication of this sensory information may contribute to the development or maintenance of disease. This is a new emerging research field in which perception of taste can be considered as a novel key player participating in the regulation of gut function. Specific diets or agonists that target these chemosensory signaling pathways may be considered as new therapeutic targets to tune adequate physiological processes in the gut in health and disease. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Physiology Volume 80 is February 10, 2018. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.status: publishe

Avian influenza: mini-review, European control measures and current situation in Asia.

&lt;p&gt;Avian influenza (AI) is a highly contagious disease for birds, which can easily take epidemic proportions when appropriate and efficacious measures are not taken immediately. Influenza viruses can vary in pathogenicity from low to medium or highly pathogenic. A low pathogenic strain can become highly pathogenic by introduction of new mutations (insertions, deletions or substitutions) in the cleavage site of the haemagglutinin during circulation in chickens. Up till now only H5 and H7 strains gave rise to highly pathogenic strains in this manner. At present the avian H5N1 influenza virus is endemic in Southeast Asia (47) and is expanding westward. In addition, its virulence is extremely higher than other HPAI, like H7N7. Moreover, the avian host range is expanding, as species previously considered resistant, now get infected and can contribute to the dissemination of the virus. In the context of H5N1, all movements (trade, high international mobility, migration and smuggling) can become high risk factors of spreading the disease. In most European countries eradication measures are applied when an outbreak occurs. But such measures have great economical and social implications, and are no longer generally accepted. The combination of prophylactic measures (vaccination and medicines), hygienic measures and surveillance could offer an acceptable alternative.&lt;/p&gt;</p