The history of the peat manufacturing industry in The Netherlands:peat moss litter and active carbon

This article describes the development of three major forms of peat processing by the manufacturing industry in The Netherlands since the last quarter of the 19th century. At a time when peat as a fuel was gradually being replaced by coal, the first form was the peat moss litter industry. Peat moss litter was made from white peat that was ground and sieved in factories which were located mainly in bog areas in the south-east of the province of Drenthe. It served as excellent bedding for horses and cattle. The second form of industrial peat processing was the manufacture, from 1921 onwards, of active carbon made from black peat. The Purit (Norit) factory, now part of the Cabot Corporation, is still the only active carbon factory using peat as a raw material. The third form of peat processing was the production of garden peat and potting soil. This is still a widespread activity in peat areas all over the world. The peat moss litter industry thrived from the 1880s until shortly after the First World War. The arrival of the horse-drawn tram in all of the major cities of Europe created a great demand for animal bedding to be used in the vast stables of the tramway companies. Peat moss litter was cleaner, healthier and easier to handle than straw. There was similar demand from the armies, which used millions of horses during the First World War. Owing to the development of motorised vehicles, the peat market collapsed after the war and this plunged the industry into a prolonged crisis which was not overcome until peat was found to be a suitable growing medium for horticulture in the 1950s. Living and working conditions in peatlands were harsh, earnings irregular and labourers’ rights limited. The peat manufacturing industry was the first to introduce collective labour agreements, medical benefits and pension plans. Nonetheless massive unemployment, poverty and the necessity to migrate to other parts of the country were clear signs that the era of peat was over for all but a handful of labourers

Playing outdoors: What do children do, where and with whom?

There is an increasing interest in outdoor play, both in research and in policy. However, in (re)designing, planning and managing the public space, there is still limited attention for children’s actual playing behavior. A lot of urban planning decisions are based on adults’ perceptions of children’s playing behavior and focus on formal play spaces, rather than on their actual behavior and on other, more informal, play places children might also use. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore where children play outdoors, with whom and what kind of activities they are performing there. Between February 2022 and March 2023 1,127 – mainly primary school - children were systematically observed after school in three post-war residential districts in three cities in The Netherlands. The majority of the children were between 5-8 years old (50%). Above the age of 8 years, substantially more boys (70%) than girls (30%) were playing outdoors. Most of the children (79%) were playing with other children, 8% were playing alone. The playground was the most popular play space (36% of the observed children were playing there), followed by public sports fields (14%) and sidewalks (13%). With respect to the type of activities, relaxing (21%) was the most common activity, followed by ball sports (14%), climbing or hanging (11%), swinging (10%), and riding on wheels (9%). This study showed differences in play behavior by gender, age, district and play space and stress the need for a broader definition of play, and for focusing on formal as well as informal play spaces

A Rounder Sense of Purpose

Championing a socially and environmentally sustainable form of development has implications for both what is taught and the way that education is conducted. These two sides of education for sustainable development (ESD) have been described by Vare and Scott (2017) as ESD 1: promoting informed behaviours and ways of thinking and ESD 2: building capacity to think critically about and beyond sustainable development concepts. While the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offer the educator content and context (ESD 1), they cannot in themselves develop educators who have the competence to facilitate critical ESD and global citizenship (ESD 2). A Rounder Sense of Purpose (RSP) is a three-year, EU-funded project developing an accredited framework of competences. This is being tested through bespoke educator training programmes among approximately 400 pre-service and in-service educators in six European countries. This work draws on the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe framework of educator competences for ESD (UNECE 2012), which itself made reference to an earlier system of teacher competences (Sleurs 2008). The UNECE framework remains a largely theoretical tool that has not been implemented in a way that links its 39 competences to assessable learning outcomes. Since early 2016 RSP partners have worked on ‘distilling’ the UNECE competences, i.e. reducing the number, removing repetition and identifying gaps. This was done with reference to other significant work in the field including that of Wiek et al. (2011) which has been adopted by UNESCO (2017). In presenting the RSP competence framework we argue that this represents a pedagogy for transformation. As such it addresses the need for ESD 2, providing a counter-balance to the more familiar ESD 1 approach that would be supported by exploring the content of the SDGs

A step-by-step guide to systematically identify all relevant animal studies

Before starting a new animal experiment, thorough analysis of previously performed experiments is essential from a scientific as well as from an ethical point of view. The method that is most suitable to carry out such a thorough analysis of the literature is a systematic review (SR). An essential first step in an SR is to search and find all potentially relevant studies. It is important to include all available evidence in an SR to minimize bias and reduce hampered interpretation of experimental outcomes. Despite the recent development of search filters to find animal studies in PubMed and EMBASE, searching for all available animal studies remains a challenge. Available guidelines from the clinical field cannot be copied directly to the situation within animal research, and although there are plenty of books and courses on searching the literature, there is no compact guide available to search and find relevant animal studies. Therefore, in order to facilitate a structured, thorough and transparent search for animal studies (in both preclinical and fundamental science), an easy-to-use, step-by-step guide was prepared and optimized using feedback from scientists in the field of animal experimentation. The step-by-step guide will assist scientists in performing a comprehensive literature search and, consequently, improve the scientific quality of the resulting review and prevent unnecessary animal use in the future

Gene expression profiling of epithelium-associated FcRL4(+) B cells in primary Sjogren's syndrome reveals a pathogenic signature

In primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS), FcRL4+ B cells are present in inflamed salivary gland tissue, within or in close proximity to ductal epithelium. FcRL4 is also expressed by nearly all pSS-related mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) B cell lymphomas, linking FcRL4 expression to lymphomagenesis. Whether glandular FcRL4+ B cells are pathogenic, how these cells originate, and how they functionally differ from FcRL4- B cells in pSS is unclear. This study aimed to investigate the phenotype and function of FcRL4+ B cells in the periphery and parotid gland tissue of patients with pSS. First, circulating FcRL4+ B cells from 44 pSS and 54 non-SS-sicca patients were analyzed by flow cytometry. Additionally, RNA sequencing of FcRL4+ B cells sorted from parotid gland cell suspensions of 6 pSS patients was performed. B cells were sorted from cell suspensions as mini bulk (5 cells/well) based on the following definitions: CD19+CD27-FcRL4- ('naive'), CD19+CD27+FcRL4- ('memory'), and CD19+FcRL4+ B cells. We found that, although FcRL4+ B cells were not enriched in blood in pSS compared with non-SS sicca patients, these cells generally exhibited a pro-inflammatory phenotype. Genes coding for CD11c (ITGAX), T-bet (TBX21), TACI (TNFRSF13B), Src tyrosine kinases and NF-κB pathway-related genes were, among others, significantly upregulated in glandular FcRL4+ B cells versus FcRL4- B cells. Pathway analysis showed upregulation of B cell activation, cell cycle and metabolic pathways. Thus, FcRL4+ B cells in pSS exhibit many characteristics of chronically activated, pro-inflammatory B cells and their gene expression profile suggests increased risk of lymphomagenesis. We postulate that these cells contribute significantly to the epithelial damage seen in the glandular tissue and that FcRL4+ B cells are an important treatment target in pSS

Devising a Competence-Based Training Program for Educators of Sustainable Development: Lessons Learned

Over recent decades, education policy has been preoccupied with economic growth while paying insufficient heed to global sustainability challenges. International initiatives to promote education for sustainable development (ESD) have been hampered by a lack of clarity on how to implement this form of education. To address this concern, a Rounder Sense of Purpose (RSP) began as a three-year EU-funded project that set out to develop a practical accreditation model for educators working on ESD. Expert and user opinion was sought through several rounds of structured consultation with over 500 people, chiefly using a Delphi approach, to develop and validate the model. The resulting framework comprises 12 competences, each with three learning outcomes and several underpinning components. This is supported by a range of activities largely reflecting a constructivist pedagogy. A range of assessment techniques have also been piloted within the project although this remains an area for further enquiry. Ultimately, it was decided not to design a single qualification template because defining the award to such a level of detail would make it more difficult to apply across multiple jurisdictions. Partners also felt that such an approach would atomize learning in a way that runs counter to the holistic principles of sustainability. RSP provided a rich learning experience for those involved and has already demonstrated its potential to extend its impact well beyond the original participants