How Dutch Institutions Enhance the Adaptive Capacity of Society

This report examines the adaptive capacity of the institutional framework of the Netherlands to cope with the impacts of climate change. Historically, institutions have evolved incrementally to deal with existing social problems. They provide norms and rules for collective action and create continuity rather than change. However, the nature of societal problems is changing as a result of the processes of globalization and development. With the progress made in the natural sciences, we are able to predict in advance, to a certain extent, the potential environmental impacts of various human actions on society, for example, climate change. This raises some key questions: Are our institutions capable of dealing with this new knowledge about future impacts and, more importantly, with the impacts themselves? Are our institutions capable of dealing with the inherent uncertainty of the predictions

Repurposing Miltefosine for the Treatment of Immune-Mediated Disease?

Cellular mechanisms in basic and clinical gastroenterology and hepatolog

IC12 Werkdocument 4 : Verslag Bijeenkomst IC12-team “Instituties voor adaptatie”, maart 2009, Academiegebouw Utrecht.

De projectgroep IC12 van Klimaat voor Ruimte onderzoekt de adaptiviteit van instituties in relatie tot klimaatverandering. Op basis van theorie is een adaptatiewiel voor de adaptiviteit van instituties ontworpen. We willen graag weten of deze herkend wordt door praktijkdenkers en bruikbaar wordt gevonden, waarbij we ons richten op de adaptiviteit van instituties in de volgende sectoren: natuur, landbouw, ruimtelijke ordening en water

Institutions for adaptation: do institutions allow society to adapt to the impacts of climate change?

Historisch gezien hebben instituties (formele en informele sociale regels en interactiepatronen) zich altijd ontwikkeld als reactie op sociale problemen, waaronder milieuproblemen. De laatste decennia worden gekenmerkt door toenemende economische ontwikkeling en globalisering, waardoor sociale problemen zich sneller ontwikkelen en onze kennis over deze problemen toeneemt. Belangrijke vraag is: in hoeverre maken instituties een tijdige en effectieve reactie vanuit de samenleving op de gevolgen van klimaatverandering mogelijk? Eerst is het Adaptatiewiel ontwikkeld als een methode om instituties te beoordelen op de mate waarin zij aanpassingen vanuit de samenlevingen bevorderen of belemmeren. Darmee is vervolgens de officiële Nederlandse institutionele context geëvalueerd in vier beleidssectoren (natuur, landbouw, water en ruimtelijke ordening). Ook is het Adaptatiewiel toegepast in vier case studies (Individuele Verantwoordelijkheid, Waterveiligheid, Bouwen in Laaggelegen Gebieden en Waddenzee

How to assess the adaptive capacity of legislation and policies

Abstract: Intuitively it is clear that institutions can both enhance and hamper the adaptive capacity of a society. But what characteristics make an institution more or less helpful for development and implementation of adaptation strategies? Based on the literature, we developed an analytical framework to assess the adaptive capacity of institutions. The Adaptive Capacity Wheel consists of six dimensions: variety, learning, autonomous ability to change, leadership, legitimacy and resources. The six dimensions were operationalised into 22 criteria and were applied to formal institutions in a content analysis. We conclude that sometimes dimensions and criteria seem to contradict each other, which is not surprising, because this reflects existing paradoxes in the governance of society. We would like to discuss the analytical instrument and its possible uses with the audience of the Amsterdam Conference

Miltefosine Suppresses Inflammation in a Mouse Model of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Cellular mechanisms in basic and clinical gastroenterology and hepatolog

Oestrogens promote tumorigenesis in a mouse model for colitis-associated cancer

Cellular mechanisms in basic and clinical gastroenterology and hepatolog

Epithelial argininosuccinate synthetase is dispensable for intestinal regeneration and tumorigenesis

The epithelial signaling pathways involved in damage and regeneration, and neoplastic transformation are known to be similar. We noted upregulation of argininosuccinate synthetase (ASS1) in hyperproliferative intestinal epithelium. Since ASS1 leads to de novo synthesis of arginine, an important amino acid for the growth of intestinal epithelial cells, its upregulation can contribute to epithelial proliferation necessary to be sustained during oncogenic transformation and regeneration. Here we investigated the function of ASS1 in the gut epithelium during tissue regeneration and tumorigenesis, using intestinal epithelial conditional Ass1 knockout mice and organoids, and tissue specimens from colorectal cancer patients. We demonstrate that ASS1 is strongly expressed in the regenerating and Apc-mutated intestinal epithelium. Furthermore, we observe an arrest in amino acid flux of the urea cycle, which leads to an accumulation of intracellular arginine. However, loss of epithelial Ass1 does not lead to a reduction in proliferation or increase in apoptosis in vivo, also in mice fed an arginine-free diet. Epithelial loss of Ass1 seems to be compensated by altered arginine metabolism in other cell types and the liver.Cellular mechanisms in basic and clinical gastroenterology and hepatolog