Scientific papers

In accordance with its mission to support high level research in Belgium, the University Foundation provides financial support towards the publication in high level international journals of scientific papers which report on research in Belgian research groups. Financial support may be granted to partially cover the costs due by the author for illustrations, for page charges and for article processing fees, and for linguuistic control. 

Because the possible support is restricted to Belgian research groups, the regulations and application procedures are only available in French  and in Dutch.

Articles subsidized by the University Foundation

What follows is a list of articles to which a subsidy was awarded by the University Foundation. The titles are ordered by year of publication and by title.

Sidney Leclercq & Geoffroy Matagne

Leclercq, S. and Matagne, G. (2020) ‘With or Without You’: The Governance of (Local) Security and the Koglweogo Movement in Burkina Faso. Stability: International Journal of Security and Development, 9(1), p.4. DOI: http://doi.org/10.5334/sta.716

In late 2014 and after more than two decades of a ‘semi-authoritarian’ regime, a popular insurrection in Burkina Faso led to the fall of Blaise Compaoré, president and leader of the ruling party. Due to — or parallel to — the political transition, factors of insecurity developed or were amplified, leading to a reconfiguration of the provision of security at two levels. At the central state level began a reflection around the governance model of security and the improvement of the practices of state security forces. At the local level, non-state security initiatives have multiplied.

Amin Hossein et al.

Hossein, A. (2019) Accurate Detection of Dobutamine-induced Haemodynamic Changes by Kino-Cardiography: A Randomised Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Validation Study. Scientific Reports, 9, Article number: 10479.

Non-invasive remote detection of cardiac and blood displacements is an important topic in cardiac telemedicine. Here we propose kino-cardiography (KCG), a non-invasive technique based on measurement of body vibrations produced by myocardial contraction and blood flow through the cardiac chambers and major vessels. KCG is based on ballistocardiography and measures 12 degrees-of-freedom (DOF) of body motion. We tested the hypothesis that KCG reliably assesses dobutamine-induced haemodynamic changes in healthy subjects.

Viviana Otero and.al.

Otero, V. et al. (2019) An Analysis of the Early Regeneration of Mangrove Forests using Landsat Time Series in the Matang Mangrove Forest Reserve, Peninsular Malaysia. Remote Sensing 201911(7), 774; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11070774

Time series of satellite sensor data have been used to quantify mangrove cover changes at regional and global levels. Although mangrove forests have been monitored using remote sensing techniques, the use of time series to quantify the regeneration of these forests still remains limited.

Malgorzata KLASS, Vitalie FAORO, Alain CARPENTIER
Klass M., Faoro V., Carpentier A. (2019) Assessment of energy expenditure during high intensity cycling and running using a heart rate and activity monitor in young active adults. PLoS ONE 14(11): e0224948.
Objective
Although high intensity physical activities may represent a great proportion of the total energy expenditure in active people, only sparse studies have investigated the accuracy of wearable monitors to assess activity related energy expenditure (AEE) during high intensity exercises. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the accuracy of the Actiheart, a light portable monitor estimating AEE based on heart rate (HR) and activity
Lynn Germeys, Yannick Griep & Sara De Gieter

Germeys, L. et al. (2019) Citizenship Pressure as a Predictor of Daily Enactment of Autonomous and Controlled Organizational Citizenship Behavior: Differential Spillover Effects on the Home Domain. Frontiers in Psychology https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00395.

This study questions the exclusive discretionary nature of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) by differentiating between autonomous OCB (performed spontaneously) and controlled OCB (performed in response to a request from others). We examined whether citizenship pressure evokes the performance of autonomous and controlled OCB, and whether both OCB types have different effects on employees’ experience of work-home conflict and work-home enrichment at the within- and between-person level of analysis.

Jinthe Van Loenhout et al.

Jinthe Van Loenhout J. et al. (2019) Cold Atmospheric Plasma-Treated PBS Eliminates Immunosuppressive Pancreatic Stellate Cells and Induces Immunogenic Cell Death of Pancreatic Cancer CellsCancers 2019, 11, 1597; doi:10.3390/cancers11101597

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most aggressive cancers with a low response to treatment and a five-year survival rate below 5%. The ineectiveness of treatment is partly because of an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, which comprises tumor-supportive pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs). Therefore, new therapeutic strategies are needed to tackle both the immunosuppressive PSC and pancreatic cancer cells (PCCs). Recently, physical cold atmospheric plasma consisting of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species has emerged as a novel treatment option for cancer.
Annelore Van Nieuwenhove et al.

Van Nieuwenhove, A. et al. (2019) Cryptic diversity and limited connectivity in octopuses: Recommendations for fisheries management. Plos One, May 2019.

The market demand for octopus grows each year, but landings are decreasing, and prices are rising. The present study investigated (1) diversity of Octopodidae in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) and (2) connectivity and genetic structure of Octopus cyanea and O. vulgaris populations in order to obtain baseline data for management plans. A fragment of the cytochrome C oxidase subunit 1 (COI) gene was sequenced in 275 octopus individuals from Madagascar, Kenya and Tanzania.

Jeroen Van Schependom, Kaat Guldolf, Marie Béatrice D’hooghe, Guy Nagels and Miguel D’haeseleer

Van Schependom, J. et al. Detecting neurodegenerative pathology in multiple sclerosis before irreversible brain tissue loss sets inTransl Neurodegener 8, 37 (2019) doi:10.1186/s40035-019-0178-4 and 9, 3 (2020) doi:10.1186/s40035-019-0182-8.

Abstract
Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a complex chronic inflammatory and degenerative disorder of the central nervous system. Accelerated brain volume loss, or also termed atrophy, is currently emerging as a popular imaging marker of neurodegeneration in affected patients, but, unfortunately, can only be reliably interpreted at the time when irreversible tissue damage likely has already occurred. Timing of treatment decisions based on brain atrophy
may therefore be viewed as suboptimal.
Lucille Desbouys et al.

Desbouys, L.; De Ridder, K.; Rouche, M.; Castetbon, K. (2019) Food Consumption in Adolescents and Young Adults: Age-Specific Socio-Economic and Cultural Disparities (Belgian Food Consumption Survey 2014)Nutrients11, 1520.

A key issue in nutritional public health policies is to take into account social disparities behind health inequalities. The transition from adolescence toward adulthood is a critical period regarding changes in health behaviors. This study aimed to determine how consumption of four emblematic food groups (two to favor and two to limit) differed according to socio-economic and cultural characteristics of adolescents and young adults living in Belgium.

Jonas Schoelynck e.a.

Schoelynck, J.  e.a. (2019) Hippos (Hippopotamus amphibius): The animal silicon pump, Science Advances  01 May 2019: Vol. 5, no. 5, eaav0395 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aav0395.

While the importance of grasslands in terrestrial silicon (Si) cycling and fluxes to rivers is established, the influence of large grazers has not been considered. Here, we show that hippopotamuses are key actors in the savannah biogeochemical Si cycle. Through a detailed analysis of Si concentrations and stable isotope compositions in multiple ecosystem compartments of a savannah-river continuum, we constrain the processes influencing the Si flux. Hippos transport 0.4 metric tons of Si day−1 by foraging grass on land and directly egesting in the water.

A.L. Jacquemart et al.

Jacquemart A.L.et al. (2019) Male flowers of Aconitum compensate for toxic pollen with increased floral signals and rewards for pollinators.Scientific reports 9:16498 | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-53355-3.

Many plants require animal pollinators for successful reproduction; these plants provide pollinator resources in pollen and nectar (rewards) and attract pollinators by specific cues (signals). In a seeming contradiction, some plants produce toxins such as alkaloids in their pollen and nectar, protecting their resources from ineffective pollinators.
Carole Charavet et al.

Charavet, C. et al (2019) Multilevel biological responses following piezocision to accelerate orthodontic tooth movement: A study in rats. Journal of the World Federation of Orthodontists. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejwf.2019.07.002.

Aim The objective of the present study was to explore the alveolar bone tissue response and its dynamic at the tissue, cellular, and molecular levels following a piezocision procedure in a rat model.

Sophie Opsomer, Peter Pype, Emelien Lauwerier, and Jan De Lepeleire

Opsomer, S. et al. (2019) Resilience in middle-aged partners of patients diagnosed with incurable cancer: A thematic analysis. PLoS One, Aug. 14, 2019.

Background Providing care for patients with advanced cancer is often the responsibility of the partner. Being confronted with an incurable cancer diagnosis can be highly disruptive for the patient’s partner and can be considered a potentially traumatic event. However, most caregivers seem to adapt well during the process of providing care. This finding is in line with the concept of resilience in literature: a dynamic process of adapting well, resulting from the interplay between intrinsic and extrinsic resources and risks.

Maria Papadopoulou, Paola Tieppo, Naomi McGovern, Françoise Gosselin, Jerry K. Y. Chan, Glenn Goetgeluk, Nicolas Dauby, Alexandra Cogan, Catherine Donner, Florent Ginhoux, Bart Vandekerckhove and David Vermijlen

Papadopoulou, M. et al. (2019) TCR Sequencing Reveals the Distinct Development of Fetal and Adult Human Vγ9Vδ2 T Cells. The Journal of Immunology, 203: 1468–1479. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.1900592

Phosphoantigen-reactive Vγ9Vδ2 T cells represent the main innate human gd T cell subset and dominate the fetal and adult peripheral blood γδ T cell repertoire. It has been hypothesized that adult blood Vγ9Vδ2 T cells find their origin in the fetus like it is established for mouse innate γδ T cells. To address this issue, we analyzed the CDR3 of the TCR of human blood and thymic Vγ9Vδ2 T cells from fetal until adult life.

R. Neville et al.

Nivelle R. et al. (2019) Temperature preference of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) juveniles induces spontaneous sex reversal. PLoS ONE 14(2): e0212504. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0212504

Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) is an African freshwater fish that displays a genetic sex determination system (XX|XY) where high temperatures (above 32°C to 36.5°C) induce masculinization. In Nile tilapia, the thermosensitive period was reported from 10 to 30 days post fertilization. In their natural environment, juveniles may encounter high temperatures that are above the optimal temperature for growth (27–30°C). The relevance of the thermal sex reversal mechanism in a natural context remains unclear.

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