COST Actions Research Articles

GPCR FORUM— towards community-driven science powered by young investigators

GPCR FORUM— towards community-driven science powered by young investigators GPCR Forum is a platform dedicated to the GPCR research community with the aim to keep the community active as well as foster communication and collaborations—initiated by our previous GLISTEN and ERNEST COST Actions. Investigators from diverse backgrounds will be connected via this free-membership forum. Please join us and contribute to member-run activities like Zoominars, online meetings and help build new projects.

'To be Informed and Involved': Women's insights on optimising childbirth care in Lithuania.

The user expectations and experiences of healthcare services are acknowledged as components of the quality of healthcare evaluations. The aim of the study is to analyse women's experiences and views on childbirth care in Lithuania. The study used the Babies Born Better (B3) online survey as the data collection instrument. The B3 is an ongoing longitudinal international project, examining the experiences of intrapartum care and developed as part of EU-funded COST Actions (IS0907 and IS1405). Responses to open-ended questions about (1) the best things about the care and (2) things in childbirth care worth changing are included in the current analysis. The participants are 373 women who had given birth within 5 years in Lithuania. A deductive coding framework established by the literature review was used to analyse the qualitative data. The framework involves three main categories: (1) the service, (2) the emotional experience and (3) the individually experienced care, each further divided into subcategories. Reflecting the experience and views regarding the service at birthplace women wished empowerment, support for their autonomy and to be actively involved in decisions, the need for privacy, information and counselling, especially about breastfeeding. In terms of emotional experience, women highlighted the importance of comprehensibility/feeling of safety, positive manageability of various situations and possibilities for bonding with the newborn. Individually experienced care was described by feedback on specific characteristics of care providers, such as competence, personality traits, time/availability and encouragement of esteem in women in childbirth. The possibilities of homebirth were also discussed. The findings reflected salutogenic principles. The findings suggest that the Lithuanian healthcare system is in a transition from paternalistic attitude-based practices to a shift towards patient-oriented care. Implementation of the improvements suggested for women in childbirth care in Lithuania would require some additional services, improved emotional and intrapersonal aspects of care and a more active role for women. Patients and the public contributed to this study by spreading information about surveys and research findings through their involvement in service user groups that have an interest in maternity care. Members of the patients' groups and the public were involved in the discussion of the results.

Modeling and simulation of a gold concentrator plant implementing a dissolution loop method

Mineral processing applications increasingly use recycled water to preserve freshwater natural resources and comply with environmental regulations. However, accumulating anions, cations, and reagents in the process water may affect plant flotation performance and production continuity. Therefore, many cost actions may be needed to mitigate the recycled water effects. Typically, the process water properties and their effects on flotation performance are unknown for a greenfield project. Often, the result is an over-scaling up of the process plant with an additional financial cost. The experimental methodology in the paper focuses on creating water for testing that is closer to the actual process water during the comminution and flotation process for any greenfield project. The scope of the study consists of creating possible process water, conducting flotation experiments, and simulation. In order to validate the dissolution loop method, refractory gold flotation plant conditions were selected in our Finland laboratory. The simulation results of dissolution loop flotation kinetics were compared with the actual plant mass balance. According to the comparative results, the process water created by the dissolution loop method has the same physical and chemical properties as the actual process water at the site except for SO4 -concentration. Moreover, comparing the simulation results of the experimental data and plant mass balance studies shows that the gold grade and recovery results in the simulation were lower than the actual plant mass balance.

Exploring the economics of conversational search sessions

PurposeTurn-taking is beneficial to conversational search success, but the increase in turns and time can also increase the cognitive load of the user. Therefore, in this research paper, the authors view conversational search sessions through the lens of economic theory and use the economic models of search to analyze the various costs and benefits of information-seeking interactions.Design/methodology/approachFirst, the authors built a cost-benefit model for conversational search sessions by defining action types and performing an intellectual mapping of actual sessions into sequences of these actions (using thematic analyses). The authors used the hypothesized cost and benefit actions (obtained from the user-system dialogs), along with the number of turns, utterances and time-related parameters, to propose the mathematical model. Next, the authors tested the model empirically by comparing the model scores to the user satisfaction and task success scores (collected through questionnaires). By representing each session as a bag of actions, the authors developed linear regression models to predict task success and user satisfaction.FindingsThrough feature analysis and significance testing, the authors identify the different parameters that contribute significantly to user satisfaction and task success scores. Error analysis shows that the model predicts task success and user satisfaction reasonably well, with the average prediction error being 0.5 for both (on a 5-point scale).Originality/valueThe authors' research is an initial step toward building a mathematical model for predicting user satisfaction and task success in conversational search sessions.

COST Action to address challenges facing people with intellectual disabilities accessing cancer prevention and response services across Europe – Introducing CUPID - Cancer- Understanding Prevention in Intellectual Disabilities.

COST Actions are grants provided by the European Union to support the establishment of networks of expertise to explore and address a scientific or social issue that impacts across Europe. This article introduces and describes one such action that started in October 2022 - CUPID - will address issues of policy and equity of access to cancer prevention initiatives by people with intellectual disabilities compared to the general population in Europe. With 82 individual members drawn from 30 countries CUPID will establish an interdisciplinary network of stakeholders representing carers, service providers, advocacy groups, educators, healthcare professionals, researchers and people with intellectual disabilities. The CUPID COST Action will be implemented over four years and will identify what needs to be addressed by the European Union and health and social services to improve cancer prevention among people with intellectual disabilities.

Changes in perinatal mental healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic: a protocol for a collaborative research study between the COST actions RISEUP-PPD and DEVOTION

IntroductionSignificant changes in routine maternity care have been introduced globally in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to reduce infection risk, but also due to lack of medical facilities, staff shortages...

Greenhouse Gas Emission Assessment of Simulated Wastewater Biorefinery

A wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) can be considered a system where dirty water enters and fresh water (by means of treatment processes) and other co-products such as sludge and biogas exit. Inside the system, typically, the following steps occur: preliminary treatment, primary treatment, secondary treatment, tertiary treatment, disinfection, and solids handling. The system transforms biomass into several energy and non-energy products, which fall into the definition of a biorefinery. This research compares three simulated WWTP in terms of their environmental greenhouse gas (GHG) emission release to the atmosphere: a generic one (without co-product valorization), one that converts co-products into fertilizer, heat, and electricity, and a third one that converts co-products into heat, electricity, fertilizer, and bioplastic. Heat and electricity are used to provide its energy needs. The chosen impact category is GHG, and the aim is to project the best scenario to the European context in terms of GHG avoidance (savings). The scope is the upstream electricity and natural gas production, the in-use emissions, and the avoided emissions by substituting equivalent fossil-based products. The functional unit is 1 L of sewage (“dirty water”). The GHG savings are evaluated by comparing a generic WWTP scenario, without co-product valorization, with alternative scenarios of co-product valorization. Conventional LCA assuming all the emissions occurs at instant zero is compared to a more realistic environment where for each year, the average of the variable emission pulses occurs. Variable emissions pulses are taken from variable inflows data publicly available from European COST actions (COST Action 682 “Integrated Wastewater Management” as well as within the first IAWQ (later IWA) Task Group on respirometry-based control of the activated sludge process), within the later COST Action 624 on “Optimal Management of Wastewater Systems”). The GHG uncertainty is estimated based on the inputs benchmark data from the WWTP literature and by having different available global warming potential dynamic models. The conventional LCA versus dynamic LCA approach is discussed especially because a WWTP is by nature a dynamic system, having variable inputs along time and therefore variable output GHG emission pulses. It is concluded that heat needs are fully covered by biogas production in the anaerobic digester and combustion, covering its own energy needs and with a potential for heat district supply. Only 30–40% of electricity needs are covered by combined heat and power. Bioplastics and/or fertilizer yields potentially represent less than 3% of current European needs, which suggests the need to reduce their consumption levels. In comparison to generic WWTP, GHG savings are 20%, considering the uncertainty in the benchmark input assumptions. The former is much higher than the uncertainty in the dynamic global warming potential model selection, which means that the model selection is not important in this case study.

Does reviewing experience reduce disagreement in proposals evaluation? Insights from Marie Skłodowska-Curie and COST Actions

Abstract We have limited understanding of why reviewers tend to strongly disagree when scoring the same research proposal. Thus far, research that explored disagreement has focused on the characteristics of the proposal or the applicants, while ignoring the characteristics of the reviewers themselves. This article aims to address this gap by exploring which reviewer characteristics most affect disagreement among reviewers. We present hypotheses regarding the effect of a reviewer’s level of experience in evaluating research proposals for a specific granting scheme, that is, scheme reviewing experience. We test our hypotheses by studying two of the most important research funding programmes in the European Union from 2014 to 2018, namely, 52,488 proposals evaluated under three funding schemes of the Horizon 2020 Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), and 1,939 proposals evaluated under the European Cooperation in Science and Technology Actions. We find that reviewing experience on previous calls of a specific scheme significantly reduces disagreement, while experience of evaluating proposals in other schemes—namely, general reviewing experience, does not have any effect. Moreover, in MSCA—Individual Fellowships, we observe an inverted U relationship between the number of proposals a reviewer evaluates in a given call and disagreement, with a remarkable decrease in disagreement above 13 evaluated proposals. Our results indicate that reviewing experience in a specific scheme improves reliability, curbing unwarranted disagreement by fine-tuning reviewers’ evaluation.

A Survey on One Health Perception and Experiences in Europe and Neighboring Areas.

A questionnaire survey was promoted under the COST Actions “Network for Evaluation of One Health-NEOH” and “European Network for Neglected Vectors and Vector-Borne Infections-EURNEGVEC”, from June 2016 to April 2017, to collect information on the existence of One Health (OH) collaboration and implementation of OH initiatives in 37 EU COST Countries. The questionnaire was to be answered by key respondents representing the three major OH components: (i). Animal Health; (ii). Human Health/Public Health; (iii). Environmental Health. A target respondent rate of nine respondents/country was aimed for, representing the following categories: (i). ministries; (ii). academia-research; (iii). private sector and NGOs, associations and scientific societies. The questionnaire, composed of 27 questions organized in six sections, was circulated to target respondents by Committee Members of the two COST actions. A total of 171 respondents from 34 countries completed the questionnaire, mainly belonging to academic and research institutions (55.5%), and to Animal Health/Animal Science fields (53.8%). Although the majority (57.9%) declared they had heard about OH, few respondents (10.7%) provided a complete definition. The “human” and “animal” elements prevailed over other key elements of OH definition (ecosystem, intersectoral, transdisciplinary, holistic, collaboration). Overall, 62.6% respondents declared to take part in OH initiatives. Antimicrobial resistance, avian influenza and environmental pollution were cited as the top three OH issues over the past 5 years. Limitations and gaps in intersectoral collaboration included communication and organizational problems resulting in poor networking, differing priorities and a lack of understanding between sectors. Regarding control and monitoring of zoonotic diseases, respondents from different sectors preferentially selected their own directorates/ministries while actually in most countries both Ministry of Health and Ministry of Agriculture are engaged. According to respondents, the level of awareness of OH amongst the general public is limited. Similarly, a dearth of opportunities of collaborations at different institutional and/or professional levels was described. Our survey provided an overview of how respondents in COST countries perceived and experienced OH and current limits to OH implementation. Identifying how initiatives are currently working and knowing the promoting and hindering factors allowed suggesting strategies to promote efficiency and effectiveness of OH implementation in the future.

Compensation gap, retrenchment strategy and organizational turnaround: a configurational perspective

PurposeThis paper extends the current understanding of the retrenchment-–turnaround relationship in declined companies by introducing a compensation gap view. It argues that the effectiveness of the retrenchment strategy is contingent on reducing the executive-employee compensation gap in the turnaround process.Design/methodology/approachDrawing from a two-stage turnaround model and insights from the literature on executive-employee compensation gap, we develop and test a theoretical model that explains how five attributes, which refer to executive-employee compensation gap, asset retrenchment, cost retrenchment, ownership and size, affect the outcome of the organizational turnaround. This paper uses the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) method and based on the samples of 112 listed companies that experience the decline between 2005 and 2013.FindingsThis paper concludes two valid causal paths and finds that small companies with small executive-employee compensation gap have a higher likelihood of successful turnaround when they implement cost or asset retrenchment actions. As for large state-owned companies, they should reduce the costs and maintain a small executive-employee compensation gap. An excessive compensation gap can be problematic, which could impair the organizational ability to cope with adversity and decline.Research limitations/implicationsFirst, this paper taps the vital role of employees in the turnaround process besides the mainstream “organizational decline-layoffs” logic, which hints a new human resource management strategy when organizations are facing decline. Second, this paper reveals the theoretical linkage between pay dispersion, internal stakeholder and organizational resilience. Third, as a methodological contribution, we introduce fsQCA, overcoming the shortcomings of turnaround strategy research with case and regression analysis and breaking through the paradigm of “specific factor-turnaround.”Practical implicationsOrganizational turnaround is a systematic process that constitutes multiple factors together. When organizations take the asset retrenchment to stop bleeding, reducing the executive-employee compensation gap will help enhance employee's cognition of organizational values and strategic goals, eliminate feelings of exploitation in retrenchment implementation and thus effectively promote turnaround. This paper also provides a basis for executive compensation restrictions and re-examines pay dispersion and economic inequality.Originality/valueThis study sheds some light on the importance of the executive-employee compensation gap in retrenchment strategy and contributes to both organizational turnaround and pay dispersion theories. Also, it reveals the theoretical linkage between internal stakeholders, organizational resilience and long-term orientation.

Roaming Through the Castle Tunnels

Smartphone applications (a.k.a., apps) have become indispensable in our everyday life and work. In practice, accomplishing a task on smartphones may require the user to navigate among various apps. Unlike Web pages that are inherently interconnected through hyperlinks, apps are usually isolated building blocks, and the lack of direct links between apps has compromised the efficiency of task completion and user experience. In this article, we present the first in-depth empirical study of page-level access behaviors of smartphone users based on a comprehensive dataset collected through an extensive user study. We propose a model to distinguish informational pages and transitional pages , based on which we can extract page-level inter-app navigation. Surprisingly, the transitional pages account for quite substantial time cost and manual actions when navigating from the current informational page to the desirable informational page. We reveal that developing “ tunnels ” between “isolated” apps under specific usage scenarios has a huge potential to reduce the cost of navigation. Our analysis provides some practical implications on how to improve app-navigation experience from both the operating system’s perspective and the developer’s<?brk?> perspective.

Why we need a European focus on foodborne parasites

Foodborne parasites (FBP) are recognized as being a neglected pathogen group, often associated with marginalized or disadvantaged populations, especially those living in regions where water supply or sanitation are inadequate. Nevertheless, we are also increasingly recognising that FBP are not just restricted to such places, and even those that do have a circumscribed endemic area may also travel further in our globalised world; FBP are relevant everywhere, including Europe.Against this background, COST Action Euro-FBP (FA1408) was established and ran for a period of 4 years, addressing a number of different questions related to FBP, particularly in the European setting. In this special issue (SI), some of the issues and outputs associated with Euro-FBP are considered in greater depth, as an output also of the final Euro-FBP meeting. As well as more general issues regarding, for example, globalization and climate change, use of economic models, and the value of risk-based surveillance that puts the topic in perspective, individual articles are included that address specific parasites. These include protozoan parasites, such as Cryptosporidium, Giardia, and Toxoplasma, as contaminants of water, shellfish, and fresh produce, fishborne parasites such as Anisakid nematodes, and meatborne parasites, such as Trichinella. Some of the works provide specific data on occurrence or outbreaks, whilst others are concerned with techniques. In addition, implementation of some of the educational and collaborative tools that are unique to COST Actions are described. COST Actions are not generally intended to deliver a scientific endpoint, and Euro-FBP does not do so. However, the articles in this SI, along with other articles published elsewhere during and subsequent to the course of the Action, as direct outputs of the Euro-FBP activities, indicate that FBP are indeed a relevant topic for European scientists.

212 Increased expression of YAP/TAZ encourages outgrowth establishment and three-dimensional colony formation and boosts plasticity of parthenogenetic stem cells

Cell proliferation, apoptosis, and differentiation are essential processes from the early phases of embryogenesis to adult tissue formation and maintenance. These mechanisms also play a key role in embryonic stem cells (ESCs), which are able to proliferate maintaining pluripotency and, at the same time, give rise to all populations belonging to the three germ layers in response to specific stimuli. ESCs are, therefore, considered a well-established invitro model to study the complexity of these processes. We previously generated porcine and human diploid parthenogenetic embryonic stem cells (ParthESC) that showed many features and regulatory pathways common to biparental ESCs. However, we observed that monoparental cells demonstrated a greater ability to form outgrowths and generate stable three-dimensional (3D) spheroid colonies, which are distinctive signs of high plasticity (Brevini et al. 2010 STCR 6; https://doi.org/10.1007/s12015-010-9153-2). In the present study, we compared porcine and human biparental ESCs and ParthESC. Pluripotency gene expression was analysed and ELISA tests for global DNA methylation and total YAP levels were performed. Our results showed that ParthESCs showed significantly higher expression levels of YAP and TAZ than biparental ESCs. In contrast, the analysis of the upstream genes involved in the Hippo signalling pathway revealed no differences. We demonstrated that YAP remains in a dephosphorylated form, encouraging its nuclear compartmentalization and direct interaction with the nuclear transcription factors TEADs and SMADs, that are also upregulated and maintain pluripotency, repressing differentiation processes (Beyer et al. 2013 Cell Rep. 5, 1611-1624; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2013.11.021). These complex regulatory interactions accompanied the overexpression of the pluripotency-related genes OCT4, NANOG, REX1, SOX2, UTF1, and TERT. In parallel, we observed a decrease of DNMT3 and DNMT4 activity that resulted in a global DNA hypomethylation and a chromatin high-permissive state. Altogether, our results demonstrate a significant upregulation of YAP/TAZ activity in monoparental cell lines. This may account for their greater ability to form outgrowths and generate 3D spheroid colonies and increased plasticity compared with biparental counterparts. It is interesting to note that YAP mRNA is supplied and expressed by the oocyte and is maternally inherited (Yu et al. 2016 Cell Res. 26, 275-287; https://doi.org/10.1038/cr.2016.20). Although further clarifications are needed, we hypothesise that its higher expression in ParthESC may be related to the strictly maternal origin of these cells. This study was supported by the Carraresi Foundation. Authors are members of the COST Actions CA16119.

209 Rho signaling-directed regulation of YAP/TAZ in parthenogenetic stem cells

Mammalian oocyte maturation is characterised by asymmetric meiotic division that is regulated by specific cytoskeleton organisation. Similarly, during early embryonic divisions, one of the most important steps is the establishment of polarity that allows cells to adopt distinct developmental fates. All of these events are driven by dynamic changes in actin filaments. It has been demonstrated recently that the Rho signalling pathway plays a key role in the organisation and rearrangement of actin-containing structures, regulating cell polarity and migration. In addition, beside its effect on cell cytoskeleton, Rho directly interacts with the Hippo pathway, influencing both embryonic cell proliferation and differentiation. Because both Rho and Hippo are expressed by the oocyte and maternally inherited (Zhang et al. 2014 Cell Cycle 13, 3390-3403, https://doi.org/10.4161/15384101.2014.952967; Menchero et al. 2017 Dev. Dyn. 246, 245-261, https://doi.org/10.1002/dvdy.24471), we investigated their regulation in parthenogenetic embryonic stem cells (ParthESC) that possess exclusively maternal genetic material, and compared the results with biparental ESCs. Previous results obtained by whole-transcriptome analysis revealed the presence of several differentially expressed genes involved in the Rho pathway and showed no differences for most of the Hippo signalling genes. To better elucidate the molecular mechanisms involved, in the present study, we dissected the expression pattern of the Rho and Hippo regulatory genes in human biparental ESCs and ParthESC. Experiments were performed on 4 biparental ESC and 4 ParthESC lines using cells between passages 5 to 25. The results showed significantly increased transcription of the Rho GTPase family genes (RHOA, RHOB, and RHOC) in ParthESC compared with biparental ESCs. Consistent with this, 12 of 17 Rho activators were significantly upregulated, whereas 8 of 11 Rho inhibitors were significantly decreased in ParthESC. Furthermore, monoparental cells displayed significantly higher expression levels of YAP and TAZ, whereas the upstream genes involved in the Hippo pathway (LATS1/2, MOB1, MST1/2, NF2) were comparable in the two cell types. Interestingly, a significantly higher total YAP protein content was detected in ParthESC, whereas the quantity of the phosphorylated form was comparable in the two cell types. This accounts for the observed upregulation of Rho genes, which stimulate the assembly of contractile actin stress fibres, inhibiting LATS1/2 phosphorylation and preventing subsequent phosphorylation of YAP/TAZ (Yu and Guan 2013 Genes Dev. 27, 355-371; https://doi.org/10.1101/gad.210773.112). Altogether, our results suggest that the Rho pathway may regulate YAP/TAZ behaviour via a LATS/MST/NF2-independent process in ParthESC, similarly to a previous report in oocytes (Posfai and Rossant 2016 Cell Res. 26, 393-394; https://doi.org/10.1038/cr.2016). Although further clarifications are needed, we hypothesise that the regulatory mechanisms detected in ParthESC may be related to their strictly maternal origin, with a possible impact on their plasticity and potency. This study was supported by Carraresi Foundation. Authors are members of the COST Actions CA16119.

How to Reduce Motorcycle Theft in Parking at a Manaus Shopping?

According to a survey conducted by the Brazilian Association of Shopping Centers in 2016, every nine days, a mall is robbed in Brazil. Faced with this scenario, shopping malls are increasingly concerned with customer safety, as they sell to consumers the idea of safety, convenience and comfort. In mall X, located in one of the busiest Manaus (Amazon capital in Brazil) city avenues, it was found that expenses with robberies and theft reimbursement in parking areas increased considerably in 2015. Thus, this article aims to propose low cost actions to reduce robberies and theft in the parking areas of this mall with the highest incidence of claims. Data were collected through spreadsheets and reports from the Customer Service System (CSS) and the outsourced contractor to operate the parking service. After data collection and analysis, it was concluded that motorcycle parking is the part of parking most affected by the problem, and possible solutions such as control by labels and helmet locks are suggested, and it is up to the mall managers to choose which of the improvement proposals are more feasible.

Development of an original phospholipase A2-targeted peptide able to reduce amyloid pathology in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease

Event Abstract Back to Event Development of an original phospholipase A2-targeted peptide able to reduce amyloid pathology in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease Séverine André1, 2, Jean M. Atakana Lukulu1, 2, Marine Lecomte1, 2, Robert N. Muller1, 2, 3, Luce Vander Elst1, 2, Sophie Laurent1, 2, 3 and Carmen Burtea1, 2* 1 University of Mons, Belgium 2 Laboratory of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and Molecular Imaging, University of Mons, Belgium 3 Centre for Microscopy and Molecular Imaging (CMMI), Belgium Introduction Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common dementia worldwide and, since 1993, no new drug was approved by the FDA for its treatment because more than 95% of them have failed during clinical trials [1]. Moreover, actual therapies are only symptomatic and do not slow the progression of the disease. In this context, identification of new targets is crucial and phospholipase A2 (PLA2) signaling pathway has been proposed to be involved in this pathology [2], its inhibition showing neuron protection against apoptosis induced by amyloid beta (Aβ) [3]. Using the phage-display technology, we have identified a PLA2-targeted peptide (PLP25) aiming to reversibly and specifically inhibit this enzyme, contrariwise to existing inhibitory molecules. In order to improve its brain availability, we combined this peptide to a vector peptide (LRP2) targeting the LDL receptor (LDLR) and able to cross the blood-brain barrier. This complex (PLP25-LRP2), evaluated in vitro and in vivo, is expected to be beneficial for AD therapy. Methods The in vitro evaluation of PLP25-LRP2 aimed to determine: (i) the inhibition of arachidonic acid (AA) release by activated PLA2 in H2O2, glutamate or A stimulated cells; (ii) the effect on cellular localization of PLA2 and of AA-depending enzymes such as COX2 and ALOX5; and (iii) the actin cytoskeleton reorganization in cells treated with this complex. For in vivo validation, the PLP25-LRP2 complex was injected to APP/PS1 mice. Its therapeutic potential was first evaluated by assessing the spatial memory of APP/PS1 mice by the Barnes maze and detecting amyloid burden by Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) using USPIO-PHO (peptide PHO identified by phage display and specific to Aβ, grafted to Ultrasmall Superparamagnetic Particles of Iron Oxide) [4,5]. Secondly, different biomarkers were evaluated ex vivo by immunohistochemistry, such as the PLA2 itself, amyloid plaques (AP), phosphorylated Tau protein (p-Tau) and NMDA receptors (NMDAR). Results H2O2, glutamate and A stimulate PLA2 activity and AA released by the induced cells, whereas our PLP25-LRP2 therapeutic complex reduces this release by 20% to 30%. In neuronal cells, glutamate and Aβ stimulate PLA2 translocation from cytosol to organelle membranes and plasma membrane processes, whereas PLP25-LRP2 is able to prevent this translocation, leading to PLA2 inhibition. Using AA released by PLA2, COX2 and ALOX5 relocated like PLA2 upon activation, while the reduced AA restricted their relocation. Finally, PLA2 inhibition by PLP25-LRP2 has also restrained the filopodial dynamics and reorganization of actin cytoskeleton, phenomena associated to neuronal excitotoxicity, characteristic to AD. Injected to APP/PS1 mice, our therapeutic complex seems to improve the spatial memory as shown by a lower number of errors and a higher percentage of time spent in the correct quadrant of the Barnes maze, compared to the mice injected with a non-specific peptide (NSP). Moreover, the PLP25-LRP2-treated mice exhibit a lower number of AP than mice injected with NSP, shown by both MRI and IHC. They also present a cellular localization of p-Tau similar to healthy mice, revealing the key role of Aβ in Tau pathology; the expression levels of PLA2 and NMDAR tend to be restored to the healthy control levels. Acknowledgements This work is supported by the Rotary Foundation – Hope in Head campaign 2015, the FRMH (Fond pour la Recherche Médicale en Hainaut) and the grant “Actions de Recherche Concertée” financed by the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, the Waloon Region, Feder, Interreg and COST actions.

187 Phenotype switch of human fibroblasts into trophoblastic cells

The first differentiation event in mammalian embryos is the formation of the trophectoderm, which is crucial for implantation of the blastocyst and gives rise to specialised populations of trophoblast cells in the definitive placenta. However, our understanding of these early differentiation events is limited, particularly in humans, because of ethical and legal restrictions on the isolation and manipulation of human embryogenesis. Here we describe experiments aimed at converting human fibroblasts into trophoblastic cells, using 5-azacytidine (5-aza-CR) to erase the original phenotype and a cocktail containing bone morphogenic protein 4 (BMP4) and inhibitors of the activin/nodal/ERK signalling pathways, to drive trophoblastic differentiation. The method required 3 main steps: (1) preparation of mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF) monolayer, and culture and collection of MEF conditioned medium (CM); (2) culture of human fibroblasts, obtained from a skin biopsy, and epigenetic erasure with 5-aza-CR for 18 h; (3) use of CM, with BMP4 (50 ng mL−1), PD0325901 (1 µM), CHIR99021 (1 µM), and PD173074 (0.1 µM) to differentiate erased human fibroblasts to trophoblast cells. Morphology changes were monitored along the process. In the initial phase of differentiation, a mixture of cell types appeared, including small cells growing in clusters and giant cells possessing very large nuclei. After 2 weeks of culture, cells displayed a distinct trophoblast-like morphology and showed the presence of typical clustering/lacunae monolayer patterning. Cells continued to proliferate and maintained a normal karyotype. BMP4-mediated differentiation was also assessed by quantitative RT-PCR using primers specific for 2 trophoblast markers: keratin 7 (KRT7) and caudal type homeobox 2 (CDX2), that are absent in the original fibroblasts. Their expression appeared by Day 3 of induction and was strong and steady throughout the process, confirming that the acquisition of a trophoblast-like morphology was supported by the activation of trophoblast-specific gene transcription. The results demonstrate the possibility of obtaining trophoblast-like cells through the conversion of human fibroblasts and confirm the involvement of BMP4-together with the inhibition of the activin/nodal/ERK signalling pathway-to activate early trophoblast differentiation in vitro. The challenge for future experiments will be to determine the precise role of BMP signals in human trophoblast definition in vivo, which, to our knowledge, has not been elucidated yet. The method here described is efficient and reproducible and has the advantage of utilising easily accessible cells as a starting population. It can be used for a variety of applications, including drug discovery and stem cell research, as well as to implement studies on the pathogenesis of developmental disorders with trophoblast defects. This research was supported by Carraresi Foundation. Authors are members of the COST Actions CA16119 and CM1406.

Martin E. Maier

Abstract“I like smaller conferences, in particular meetings of the EU‐funded COST actions. This program does strengthen the European idea indeed.” Find out more about this author's research at https://doi.org/10.1002/ejoc.201800693.

INTEGENERATIONAL FAMILY SOLIDARITY ACROSS EUROPE (INTERFASOL)

INTERFASOL aims to synchronize, integrate and improve European research in the field of intergenerational family solidarity (IFS), its benefits in key life domains (education, work, health and wellbeing) and the ways in which it can be strengthened across generations. Since 2014, researchers from 28 countries strive towards a) a meta-analytic overview of the relationship between IFS and key life domains, b) comparison of nationally funded research activities and evidence relating to IFS, c) development of a framework organizing best practices to facilitate IFS at micro, meso and macro level, and d) identifying key policy issues and stakeholders that are most effective in securing the benefits of IFS and developing strategies for effective knowledge dissemination. The paper will provide an overview of the main outcomes of the four working groups so far, and discusses methods and instruments that facilitate international collaboration in COST Actions.

Tracking Invasive Alien Species (TrIAS): Building a data-driven framework to inform policy

Imagine a future where dynamically, from year to year, we can track the progression of alien species (AS), identify emerging problem species, assess their current and future risk and timely inform policy in a seamless data-driven workflow. One that is built on open science and open data infrastructures. By using international biodiversity standards and facilities, we would ensure interoperability, repeatability and sustainability. This would make the process adaptable to future requirements in an evolving AS policy landscape both locally and internationally. In recent years, Belgium has developed decision support tools to inform invasive alien species (IAS) policy, including information systems, early warning initiatives and risk assessment protocols. However, the current workflows from biodiversity observations to IAS science and policy are slow, not easily repeatable, and their scope is often taxonomically, spatially and temporally limited. This is mainly caused by the diversity of actors involved and the closed, fragmented nature of the sources of these biodiversity data, which leads to considerable knowledge gaps for IAS research and policy. We will leverage expertise and knowledge from nine former and current BELSPO projects and initiatives: Alien Alert, Invaxen, Diars, INPLANBEL, Alien Impact, Ensis, CORDEX.be, Speedy and the Belgian Biodiversity Platform. The project will be built on two components: 1) The establishment of a data mobilization framework for AS data from diverse data sources and 2) the development of data-driven procedures for risk evaluation based on risk modelling, risk mapping and risk assessment. We will use facilities from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), standards from the Biodiversity Information Standards organization (TDWG) and expertise from Lifewatch to create and facilitate a systematic workflow. Alien species data will be gathered from a large set of regional, national and international initiatives, including citizen science with a wide taxonomic scope from marine, terrestrial and freshwater environments. Observation data will be funnelled in repeatable ways to GBIF. In parallel, a Belgian checklist of AS will be established, benefiting from various taxonomic and project-based checklists foreseen for GBIF publication. The combination of the observation data and the checklist will feed indicators for the identification of emerging species; their level of invasion in Belgium; changes in their invasion status and the identification of areas and species of concern that could be impacted upon by bioinvasions. Data-driven risk evaluation of identified emerging species will be supported by niche and climate modelling and consequent risk mapping using critical climatic variables for the current and projected future climate periods at high resolution. The resulting risk maps will complement risk assessments performed with the recently developed Harmonia+ protocol to assess risks posed by emergent species to biodiversity and human, plant, and animal health. The use of open data will ensure that interested stakeholders in Belgium and abroad can make use of the information we generate. The open science ensures everyone is free to adopt and adapt the workflow for different scenarios and regions. The checklist will be used at national level, but will also serve as the Belgian reference for international databases (IUCN - GRIIS, EASIN) and impact assessments (IPBES, SEBI). The workflow will be showcased through GEO BON, the Invasivesnet network and the COST Actions Alien Challenge and ParrotNet. The observations and outcomes of risk evaluations will be used to provide science-based support for the implementation of IAS policies at the regional, federal and EU levels. The publication of Belgian data and checklists on IAS is particularly timely in light of the currently ongoing EU IAS Regulation and its implementation in Belgium. By proving that automated workflows can provide rapid and repeatable production of information, we will open up this technology for other conservation assessments.