Op 25 september 2020, zijn zeventigste verjaardag, wordt Prof. em. dr. André Alen, voorzitter van het Grondwettelijk Hof, toegelaten tot het emeritaat. Dit Liber amicorum brengt bij die gelegenheid hulde aan de hoogleraar staatsrecht, de medeauteur van belangrijke staatshervormingen, de magistraat, maar vooral aan de mens André Alen. En dit boek leert ons inderdaad veel over hem. In niet minder dan 72 bijdragen komt een grote verscheidenheid aan materies aan bod, die de zeer gevarieerde loopbaan en de ruime belangstellingssfeer van André Alen weerspiegelen
This contribution presents an overview of the Belgian Constitutional Court and its activities during 2016. Two constitutional controversies that were at the forefront of political discussions and attracted much media attention are discussed, namely the separation of powers and the refugee "crisis" as well as the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between the European Union and Canada. Moreover, the article gives an overview of the main cases of the Belgian Constitutional Court of the past year that may be of interest to an international audience. These cases are divided into the following categories: the Belgian Constitution in Europe and the world, separation of powers, justice and order, ethical issues and hot topics.
In this study, we report the results of a comprehensive phenotyping of the retina of the App(NL-G-F) mouse. We demonstrate that soluble A beta accumulation is present in the retina of these mice early in life and progresses to A beta plaque formation by midlife. This rising A beta burden coincides with local microglia reactivity, astrogliosis, and abnormalities in retinal vein morphology. Electrophysiological recordings revealed signs of neuronal dysfunction yet no overt neurodegeneration was observed and visual performance outcomes were unaffected in the App(NL-G-F) mouse. Furthermore, we show that hyperspectral imaging can be used to quantify retinal A beta, underscoring its potential as a biomarker for AD diagnosis and monitoring. These findings suggest that the App(NL-G-F) retina mimics the early, preclinical stages of AD, and, together with retinal imaging techniques, offers unique opportunities for drug discovery and fundamental research into preclinical AD. ; MV, LV, LuM and LDG are fellows of the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO). This research was supported by the Alzheimer's Research Foundation (SAO-FRA), the European Union Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program (2014-2020) (HERALD project, granted by the ATTRAC T consortium). The Centre for Eye Research Australia receives Operational Infrastructure Support from the Victorian Government. XH and PvW acknowledge funding support from the H & L Hecht Trust and the Yulgilbar Alzheimer's Research Program. ; De Groef, L (corresponding author), Univ Leuven KU Leuven, Dept Biol, Neural Circuit Dev & Regenerat Res Grp, Naamsestr 61,Box 2464, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium. Lies.Degroef@kuleuven.be
The issue of sustainability is at the top of the political and societal agenda, being considered of extreme importance and urgency. Human individual action impacts the environment both locally (e.g., local air/water quality, noise disturbance) and globally (e.g., climate change, resource use). Urban environments represent a crucial example, with an increasing realization that the most effective way of producing a change is involving the citizens themselves in monitoring campaigns (a citizen science bottom-up approach). This is possible by developing novel technologies and IT infrastructures enabling large citizen participation. Here, in the wider framework of one of the first such projects, we show results from an international competition where citizens were involved in mobile air pollution monitoring using low cost sensing devices, combined with a web-based game to monitor perceived levels of pollution. Measures of shift in perceptions over the course of the campaign are provided, together with insights into participatory patterns emerging from this study. Interesting effects related to inertia and to direct involvement in measurement activities rather than indirect information exposure are also highlighted, indicating that direct involvement can enhance learning and environmental awareness. In the future, this could result in better adoption of policies towards decreasing pollution. ; European Commission/EU RD/IST-265432 ; SONY-CS Computer Science Lab
The issue of sustainability is at the top of the political and societal agenda, being considered of extreme importance and urgency. Human individual action impacts the environment both locally (e.g., local air/water quality, noise disturbance) and globally (e.g., climate change, resource use). Urban environments represent a crucial example, with an increasing realization that the most effective way of producing a change is involving the citizens themselves in monitoring campaigns (a citizen science bottom-up approach). This is possible by developing novel technologies and IT infrastructures enabling large citizen participation. Here, in the wider framework of one of the first such projects, we show results from an international competition where citizens were involved in mobile air pollution monitoring using low cost sensing devices, combined with a web-based game to monitor perceived levels of pollution. Measures of shift in perceptions over the course of the campaign are provided, together with insights into participatory patterns emerging from this study. Interesting effects related to inertia and to direct involvement in measurement activities rather than indirect information exposure are also highlighted, indicating that direct involvement can enhance learning and environmental awareness. In the future, this could result in better adoption of policies towards decreasing pollution.
